Mr V.A.Chipiga, Chief of Ihe Legal Department of the Stale Customs Committee of RUz, was the guest speaker for the monthly meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce.

The  topic  of Mr Chipiga's detailed talk was the draft of the Tax Code of RUz, and the work being carried out on the paper. It was mentioned that, compared to the current Code, the new one would regulate the system of the customs relations in a more comprehensive way. The draft Code sets forth all the rules,   privileges,   rights   and obligations both  for the  foreign economic  activity participants and customs bodies; the paper will comply not only with the international law-standards but with the customs codes of the EuroAsEC member countries. At present, many of these relations arc being regulated by the set of resolutions of the government, and by the departmental normative documents registered with the Ministry of Justice.

The main reason of necessity to work on the Customs Code is Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization, joining the EuroAsEC treaties and agreements, and, to some extent, the gap between the legislation in this field and the current rcalias. In association with this, high-powered work on the new edition of the Customs Code is being carried out. As you arc aware, the drafts of the Tax and Administrative Codes have already been submitted for consideration of the government. The draft of the Customs Code is inseparable from these two acts of legislation. Indeed, the Tax Code regulates the sphere of application of the value added and excise taxes to be paid upon importation of the goods, as well as the system of preferences relating to these payments. And the draft of the Administrative Code is to regulate the system of administrative responsibility of the citizens as well as of the legal entities.

Speaking about the EurAsEC formation process, Mr Chipiga mentioned that the position of Russia was not clear until just recently, i.e. what would be prioritized: its accession to the WTO or formation of the Customs Union within KurAshC. The whole process of formation and development of the system of relations in EurAsEC was dependent on that decision. Finally, Russia has found its position, and V.V.Putin, the President of Russia, declared that in the first instance all the efforts would be directed to formation of the Customs Union.

Answering the questions submitted by the AmCham members, Mr Chipiga has mentioned that, as everybody is aware, any state possesses three branches of power: legislative, executive and judicial ones. Each branch is responsible for its area of focus: the legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch implements them and the judicial one resolves disputes and detects persons guilty of violation of the laws. The State Customs Committee is a state regulating authority and belongs to the executive branch of power. Herewith, the competence of SCC includes mere development of mechanisms for the legislative norms and regulations application within the framework prescribed by the superior bodies, and control over their observance. Legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan defines the acts which should introduce this or that norm. For example, issues of establishment of the import duties rates and granting of the customs payment preferences are in the exclusive capacity of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan due to their importance for the economy as a whole and impact they produce on it. As far back as 1997, it was the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan which abolished export customs duties, and the fact stimulated growth of the export capacity. We may submit proposals on the legislation improvement but we cannol change it on our own authority, emphasized Mr Chipiga.

Among the other questions, there was the one related to the problem of release of the import goods for free circulation, i.e. why this process drags along, though all the documents required for the cargo customs clearance are available. Mr Chipiga has explained that in many cases the entrepreneurs themselves are guilty since they arc not enough knowledgeable about issues of legislation. In this case, insufficient law-obedience naturally leads to a necessity to enhance control for purposes of protection of the economic security of the Republic. As for the facts of bureaucratic hurdles or cases of corruption, it was suggested to immediately apply to the SCC headquarters where hot lines are available. Besides this, the SCC top executives regularly receive all the persons wishing to express their views on the current problems.

With regards to harmonization of the import duties within EurAsEC, it has been mentioned that the process is not so simple as it seems. Since the process of harmonization of the import tariffs should take into account not only the economy development level but the economic priorities of each state. For us this process is especially difficult, as Uzbekistan has joined EurAsEC quite recently, and by the end of the year we need to accede to all the EurAsEC basic treaties and agreements.
AmCham members noted with satisfaction that the monthly meeting has become one of the most interesting meetings of the latest. Lively discussion and the speaker's readiness to establish contact with the audience was cordially welcomed. The Board of Directors would like to seize this opportunity to thank Mr Chipiga, and it looks forward to continuing fruitful contacts. Contributed by V.A.Chipiga, Chief of the Legal Department of the State Customs Committee of RUz and translated into English by Lyubov Belokon.

Contributed by V.A. Chipiga, Chief of the Legal Department of the Site Customs Committee of RUz and translated into English by Lyubov Belokon.