President signed Measures to accelerate the development of the pharmaceutical industry Decree introducing import duties on certain types of medicines Tuesday.
The Decree has amended the June 29, 2018 Resolution, which had set customs duties for imported goods.
In particular, if for goods under 3004 HS code, the duty was at 0%, now it will be 2% of the customs value of goods.
This category includes medicines (except for goods of HS codes 3002, 3005 or 3006), consisting of mixed or unmixed products, for therapeutic or prophylactic use, packaged in the form of dosed dosage forms (including drugs in the form of transdermal systems) or in forms or packaging for retail sale.
According to the Harmonized System of Commodity Description and Coding (HS Code), examples of drugs that fall under code 3004 are:
- antibiotics in finished form (amoxicillin, azithromycin, ceftriaxone);
- painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, paracetamol, diclofenac);
- antivirals (oseltamivir, remdesivir);
- hormonal drugs (insulin, prednisolone, thyroxine);
- cardiological (atenolol, captopril, amlodipine);
- antidiabetic (metformin, glibenclamide);
- antihistamines (cetirizine, loratadine);
- antitumor agents (paclitaxel, tamoxifen);
- vitamins and dietary supplements that have the status of a drug.
What is not included in 3004:
- serums, vaccines and blood products (3002);
- medicinal plasters and dressings (3005);
- contrast agents and diagnostic reagents (3006).
On December 18, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a government meeting with CEOs of pharmaceutical companies at the Tashkent Pharma Park pharmaceutical cluster. He criticized the fact that 80% of drugs in the country are imported and put forward proposals to localize production and expand exports in order to “reduce this 80%.”
