Antimonopoly Committee says proposal of “Uzstandard” Agency may adversely affect the competitive environment in the market

Earlier, Spot reported that the “Uzstandard” Agency introduced a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers “On additional measures to protect consumer rights and improve the work to assess the conformity of consumer products, as well as create favorable conditions for business entities”.

The project contains a number of radical proposals, including:

• a ban on the import of certain products;

• restricting import of electrical equipment;

• a ban on the sale of several hundreds of goods without a national mark of conformity.

The Antimonopoly Committee, which regularly assesses the impact of draft regulatory acts, commented on the project of the “Uzstandard” Agency:

“The project provides for a number of cases that can adversely affect the interests of individuals, legal and business entities, and can also harm the competitive environment,” the committee said.

For example, it states that at the time of certification, in the absence of an accredited testing laboratory (center) for a given type of product, the attestation body can determine the possibility, as well as the place and conditions of testing, ensuring the objectivity of their results. 

According to the committee, giving the attestation body the right to choose a testing laboratory and determining the test conditions without the participation of the customer, can lead to corruption. Based on this, the committee proposes to determine the possibility, as well as the place and conditions of testing, by the attestation body in agreement with the customer.

The committee said that the clause on the restriction of imports can lead to additional costs for the manufacturing plant, reduction of market participants, and also may affect the interests of consumers. In this regard, the committee suggested that “Uzstandard” delete this item.