Within the Government’s policy framework aimed at creation of enabling environment for private sector development and further integration into global economy, a comprehensive reform of the system of customs administration is underway. In particular, the new revision of the Customs Code (which should become a regulatory act of direct action) and additional measures aimed at improving the system of customs administration are being developed.

The effectiveness of ongoing customs reforms as a whole and elaboration of the new revision of Customs Code in particular, heavily depend on reflecting the opinions and interests of business entities engaged in foreign trade activity in the reform agenda. In this regard, it is important to maintain a constant and constructive policy dialogue between the government, private sector and other involved parties, thus providing opportunities for the joint analysis and search for comprehensive solutions of unresolved issues of the current draft document.

One of the effective tools of facilitating the dialogue between the government and private sector is creation of web resources which will ensure convenient and efficient online access for domestic entrepreneurs to the information about ongoing reforms, which in its turn will promote the constructive exchange of opinions through respective online forums.

Taking into account the above-mentioned, the interactive web site on the coverage of ongoing customs reforms (www.customsreform.uz) was developed and launched within the framework of the joint project of the United Nations Development Programme and the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan entitled “Improving the System of Customs Administration in the Republic of Uzbekistan”. The main objective of creation of the web site is to promote the involvement of government officials, representatives of business entities engaged in foreign economic activity, officials of business support centers, research institutions and international organizations in the process of joint consideration and discussion of clauses of the draft Customs Code in new revision.

Besides this, the web site will provide information about the course of offline discussions of the draft Customs Code in new revision and the results of the meetings of Expert Council on customs reform, as well as the measures undertaken on further improvement of the customs regulation and creation of favorable conditions for foreign trade development. In addition, the web site gives the opportunity to visitors to get familiarized wit the latest changes introduced in the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the sphere of customs regulation of foreign economic activity and international agreements in this field, as well as access to respective analytical and supplementary materials.

Taking into consideration the increasing demand for information about the ongoing customs reform and the need for strengthening the dialogue between government bodies and private sector, there is every reason to believe that this web site will take its respective place in the domestic market of web resources.