Uzbekistan was removed from another “black list” of the USA

The Republic of Uzbekistan has been taken off the list of countries under surveillance, as per the 301st special report of the US Trade Representative (USTR) regarding the status of legal protection and enforcement of intellectual property. The USTR stated this development on April 25.

"USTR removed Uzbekistan from the Watch List this year due to steady progress on long-standing issues related to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property. For example, Uzbekistan introduced new amendments to the Customs Code, which established ex officio powers to suspend and seize counterfeit imports and exports. Uzbekistan also continues to pay high political attention to intellectual property, including supporting and participating in the Working Group on Intellectual Property within the framework of the “US-Central Asia” Trade and Investment Framework Agreement," the statement said.

According to the Department of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan, the country has been on the surveillance list since 2000, marking a 24-year tenure.

Inclusion in the surveillance list signals significant challenges in intellectual property protection, with a particular focus on regulating foreign enterprises' investment activities.

As of today, only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan remain on the watch list within the Central Asian region.

This achievement is attributed to five years of systematic efforts aimed at streamlining intellectual property registration procedures, robust rights protection, international agreement adherence, diplomatic relations development, and national legislation alignment with the WTO's TRIPS agreement, as stated by the Department of Intellectual Property.

It's worth noting that in December 2018, Uzbekistan was delisted from countries of "special concern" regarding religious freedom, followed by its removal from the "countries under special surveillance" list two years later. Additionally, in 2019, the US Department of Labor finalized the decision to exclude Uzbek cotton from executive orders banning products manufactured using forced child labor for US government procurement.