In the context of its ongoing endeavor to modernize the work of Customs, the Administration of Uzbekistan hosted a national Workshop on the Practical Implementation of the Harmonized System 2012 Edition to address all of the most essential aspects of this work in a comprehensive manner. The Workshop was held in Tashkent, from 6 to 10 April 2015, and was funded by the CCF-Japan. Officers from several units involved in commodity classification matters attended the Workshop. Owing to the fact that the event was conducted entirely in Russian – a language widely spoken in Uzbekistan – the communication with the facilitators from Belarus and Georgia was excellent and the participants were very active throughout the Workshop.

The Workshop proved to be an appropriate platform to discuss possible improvements in the national tariff classification work and related infrastructure. Participants deliberated on a number of issues related to the HS Convention, such as the rights and obligations of HS Contracting Parties, best practices for organizing tariff classification work, advance tariff rulings, and the fundamental principles and practicalities of HS classification, etc.

The Workshop turned out to be a landmark event in addressing issues of tariff classification and the administration of the Customs tariff – one of the most important and complex areas of Customs’ work.