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89COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN TO THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)
Pulatova L.,
Head of the Department of "Special Disciplines" of the Faculty of Advanced Training and Retraining of Personnel of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor
Sagitov A.,
Senior lecturer of the Department of "Special Disciplines" of the Faculty of Advanced Training and Retraining of Personnel of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, PhD in technical sciences
Aripov S.,
Associate professor, Institute of civil safety under ministry of emergency situations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Phd in economical sciences Pulatov A.
Student, Zhejiang university of science and technology, faculty «International economic»
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of the legal aspects of the entry of the Republic of Uzbekistan into the World Trade Organization. In a comparative aspect, the analysis of the experience of accession of other states to the WTO, as well as the possibilities of the WTO regulatory framework to ensure the gradual accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan, taking into account national interests, is carried out. The obtained fundamental results of the study are of practical interest, taking into account the policy of liberalization of foreign economic activity, expansion of export potential and further improvement of customs administration in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Keywords: World Trade Organization, customs and tariff regulation, customs duties, foreign economic activity.
THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION AS A NEW FORM OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS
Today, the implementation of economic reforms in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the development of its national economy in the context of the unfolding globalization of the world economy and the increasing internationalization of economic life is determined primarily by effective participation in the international division of labor, including industrial cooperation. It is important to note that the formation and development of market relations requires the expansion of foreign economic relations, greater integration of our republic into the world economy system.
As the practice of existing foreign trade relations has shown, the achievement of the set goals is based on the restructuring of all segments of the domestic market, bringing them into line with the standards of civilized market activity of legal, administrative and economic regulation that have developed in the world community. In this regard, simultaneously with the initial stage of economic reforms, in 1995, steps were taken to prepare the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to one of the most representative and influential international economic organizations — the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the successor of which in 1995 became the World Trade Organization (WTO).[1]
Considering the specifics of the functioning of the World Trade Organization, it should be noted that the WTO, being a trade organization, offers its members mainly a set of trade-related instruments that should not be identified with the instruments of customs administration developed at the international level under the auspices of the World Customs Organization. In this re-
gard, the obligations under the WTO, affecting the issues of customs administration proper, are contained to the extent necessary to ensure unhindered trade between WTO members. This fact is reflected in the assessment of the consequences of the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the WTO, in the scientific works of authoritative Uzbek specialists in the field of customs and foreign trade law, such as Abdullaev A.M., Kurpayanidi K. I., Aripov S.A., etc.
It should be noted that a necessary condition for the entry of the Republic of Uzbekistan into the WTO is the compliance of national customs and foreign trade legislation with the standards established in the WTO. In a comparative aspect, among the WTO rules that are important from the point of view of their influence on the formation of the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan on customs affairs, it should be noted the Agreement on the application of Article VII of the GATT, the so-called Code on Customs Value. Acting as a fundamental international standard for the determination, declaration and control of customs value, which is the basic legal structure in customs regulation, this agreement is fully reflected in the norms of this legislation. In this context, it is important to note the fact that the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan has agreed on the procedure for determining the customs value in accordance with Article VII of this Agreement. Currently, the system of customs valuation in the Republic is regulated by Chapter 44 of the Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In addition, the procedure, method and information on the application by the Republic of Uzbekistan of the Agreement "On Customs Valuation" have been agreed with the relevant ministries and departments. [2, 3]
Based on the data of the regulatory framework of the WTO, it should be emphasized that within the WTO
there is a separate document concerning trade-related investment measures - the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS), concluded in Marrakech on January 15, 1994. This agreement concerns only trade in goods and requires the abolition of measures applied to foreign investors and incompatible with the obligation to provide national treatment and the abolition of quantitative restrictions, in particular:
• measures aimed at the procurement or use by the enterprise of goods of domestic origin or from any domestic source;
• measures requiring that the purchase or use of imported goods by an enterprise be limited to the quantity associated with the volume or value of local goods exported by it;
• measures restricting the import by an enterprise of goods used in its local production or related to it, in whole or in quantity related to the volume or value of local goods exported by it;
• measures restricting the import by the enterprise of goods used in its local production or related to it by restricting the access of the enterprise to foreign currency by the volume of foreign currency receipts due to the enterprise;
• measures restricting the export or sale by an enterprise of goods for export, expressed in the form of either specific goods, their volume or value, or as a share of the volume or value of its local production. [4]
In this context, it seems convincing that the most favorable investment regime is required for goods that contribute to the establishment and development of production facilities, technologies, industrial installations, technical devices, etc. As practice shows, such a regime provides not only for the maximum reduction, and in some cases, the elimination of import customs duties, but also the elimination of administrative barriers, often associated with acts of corruption.
In the studied problems of the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the WTO, the central issues are related to the fact that national customs legislation must comply with the provisions of WTO law affecting certain customs and legal institutions. In a comparative aspect, I would like to focus on the analysis of the provisions of the articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994 (GATT-1994), as well as a number of other WTO agreements, which allow us to identify the following points of contact between the customs legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan and WTO law, in particular:
I. Transit. It should be noted that the customs aspects of the transit of goods used in the Republic of Uzbekistan within the framework of customs regulation generally do not contradict Article 5 of the GATT 1994 and do not require revision for compliance with WTO law.
II. Customs value of goods. As noted above, the system of assessing the customs value in the Republic is regulated by Chapter 44 "Customs value of goods" (Articles 301-321) of the Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In addition, the procedure, method and information on the application by the Republic of Uzbekistan of the Agreement "On Customs Valuation"
are set out in the "Instructions for determining the customs value of goods imported into the customs territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan" [5]. The Instructions describe not only the methods of determining the customs value themselves, but also the procedure for their application. In addition, the appendix to the Instructions contains recommendations on the use of method No. 4 for assessing the customs value of imported goods.
III. Fees and formalities related to import and export. Taking into account the prospects for the transition to electronic document management, as well as the work on the unification of a number of permits, we can expect further simplification of customs formalities and a reduction in the time of customs operations. Compliance with the framework standards for security and facilitation of world trade does not require additional rulemaking. The legal basis for the introduction of modern forms and methods of customs control and clearance into the practice of customs administration is already contained in the Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Thus, Chapter 29 specifies the basics of applying the risk management system (RMS) in the republic; Chapter 52 - the sequence of submission by the customs authorities of a preliminary decision on the classification of goods according to the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity (HS); chapter 56 is devoted to such an urgent issue as the protection of intellectual property rights.
IV. Rules of origin. In accordance with the main provisions of the WTO Rules of Origin Agreement, it should be noted that, first of all, the harmonization of rules of origin is envisaged, as well as the obligations of WTO member States to adhere to certain rules for a transitional period (until the completion of work on the harmonization of rules of origin) and the principles ensuring the implementation of future harmonized rules. Despite the fact that at present, the rules of origin are not harmonized, the WTO member States must adhere to certain rules (principles) set out in the Agreement (Part II "Rules of application of the rules of origin of goods"). It is important for the study that the Agreement defines the difference between the rules of origin applied for non-preferential treatment (for example, antidumping and countervailing duties, quantitative restrictions, tariff quotas and other measures provided for by GATT-1994) and the rules of origin related to the provision of tariff preferences on a contractual or autonomous basis. Our analysis of the legal framework on the rules of origin with sufficient certainty gives grounds to assert that the Republic of Uzbekistan complies with all the rules and principles of the WTO, which form the basis for future harmonization.
V. Cross-border measures to ensure compliance with intellectual property rights. A comprehensive review of various aspects of the customs specifics of the protection of intellectual property objects has shown that it is based on joint actions of interested persons (copyright holders, representatives of copyright holders) and authorized customs authorities. To date, the Republic of Uzbekistan has ratified many multilateral international treaties in the field of intellectual property, such as the Berne Convention for the Protec-
tion of Literary and Artistic Works, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Copyright and Related Rights (regional agreement of the CIS countries), etc.
One of the important international treaties on WTO accession is Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In accordance with article 58 of TRIPS, it is established that, at the request of members, the competent authorities must act on their own initiative and suspend the release into free circulation of goods in respect of which they have evidence that the intellectual property right is being violated. In this regard, and in order to implement the norm of Article 58 of TRIPS, the issue of suspending the release of goods into free circulation on the customs authorities' own initiative (exofficio) is currently being studied.
Section 4 ofPart III of Annex 1C of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("Special Requirements for Border Measures" -hereinafter Special Requirements). The provisions of this section are implemented in Chapter 56 "Protection of intellectual property rights" of the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Articles 382-393). In accordance with the main provisions of Article 390 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the suspension of the release of goods containing signs of infringement of intellectual property rights is provided for, applied by customs authorities subject to the conditions provided for in Articles 385 and 388 of this Code. The suspension of the release of goods containing signs of infringement of intellectual property rights is carried out for the purpose of applying to the judicial authorities by the rightholder or his authorized representative and providing the customs authorities with a court ruling on the appointment of a case for trial.
By virtue of Article 51 of the TRIPS Agreement, counterfeit goods are subject to detention and prevention of their free circulation in the territory of the WTO member country, including export outside its borders. A more detailed analysis of the Special Requirements gives rise to further discussions on improving the mechanism under consideration for the protection of intellectual property rights by customs authorities. For example, the issue of the so-called parallel import has not been fully resolved. At the same time, the cases of non-application of these protection measures listed in the Special Requirements indicate that it is not necessary to extend them to the import of goods placed on the market in another country by the copyright holder or with his consent.
It should be noted that on the basis of the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the introduction of a recycling fee for wheeled vehicles, self-propelled vehicles and trailers to them" dated June 2, 2020, No. 347, from August 1, 2020, the rates of the recycling fee for passenger cars produced in the republic and imported into its territory have been approved in the Republic of Uzbekistan, special, road equipment and tractors. The introduction of a recycling fee in Uzbekistan pursues several goals, including ensuring environmental safety, protecting the
environment and human health from the effects of the consequences of car operation, increasing the responsibility of transport manufacturing companies, as well as vehicle importers.
One of the main requirements for joining the WTO is the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Agreement on Trade Facilitation, which entered into force on February 22, 2017, since two-thirds of all members of the organization (110 countries) have completed the ratification procedures. This Agreement establishes requirements aimed at simplifying formalities and procedures related to the movement of goods across borders. Moreover, uniform requirements will be applied in the WTO member countries, which will ensure predictability, clarity and transparency of customs procedures.
In addition, in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the International Convention on Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Kyoto, May 18, 1973, as amended on June 26, 1999), our state joined one of the basic WTO documents - the revised Kyoto Convention.
Considering the above, it should also be noted that, in the context of the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the WTO, the issues of cooperation of our state in the field of trade facilitation, bringing technical regulationns, sanitary and phytosanitary standards in line with international requirements remain relevant. [6-8]
STATE REGULATION OF THE INNOVATION PROCESS IN THE FIELD OF CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Currently, as a result of ongoing reforms in the system of customs administration, our republic has made significant progress in bringing its customs legislation in line with international and European standards. At the same time, it should be noted that the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan contains the basic foundations in the field of:
• modern customs clearance procedures involving the use of prior information;
• risk management systems when choosing certain forms of customs control;
• institute of authorized economic operator and other advanced customs technologies. [9, 10]
The issue of harmonization of customs legislation with WTO norms will also affect the status of an authorized economic operator. In Note 1 to clause 2.3 of the Framework Standards adopted by the WTO, an authorized economic operator is understood to be a foreign trade participant whose activities have been approved by the customs administration as conforming to WTO norms or standards for ensuring the safety of the supply chain of goods. AEO can be manufacturers, importers, exporters, brokers, carriers, consolidators, intermediaries, operators of ports, airports, terminals, integration and warehouse operators, distributors. In other words, international regulations provide for the assignment of AEO status and, accordingly, the rights to special simplification not only to exporters and importers of goods, as is customary in our country, but
also to a wide range of persons involved in the movement of goods across the customs border.
Taking into account the transformations taking place in the trade and economic sphere of the Republic of Uzbekistan, attention should be paid to the maximum simplification of customs procedures for foreign investments directed primarily to the industries most sensitive to the conditions of WTO accession, in particular, light and food industries, agriculture. The regulatory impact of customs policy should dramatically reduce the impact of protectionist measures on foreign trade in goods. In this regard, all the necessary conditions are being created in the republic for the formation of a competitive environment among domestic producers.
On February 15 of this year, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov held talks with Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a videoconference format.
During the negotiations, in preparation for the upcoming 5th meeting of the Working Group on Uzbekistan's Accession to the WTO, a plan for working out new documents submitted by Uzbekistan to the WTO Secretariat for negotiations with member states was considered. Particular attention is paid to the solution of priority tasks for the further advancement of negotiations in this direction, outlined not only in the new "Roadmap" of events for 2022, developed jointly with the Secretariat of the Organization in order to intensify the negotiation process, but also being a key direction, designated in the Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026.1
COMPARATIVE ASPECT OF
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN ON ACCESSION TO THE WTO. PROBLEMS, CONDITIONS AND PROSPECTS OF ACCESSION
Uzbekistan remains an urgent issue of joining the World Trade Organization. There are a number of issues in this direction that require careful and comprehensive study. In particular, in our opinion, it is very important to defend the interests of the republic when negotiating accession with individual
The experience of the Russian Federation.
The following positions were the most sensitive for the Russian Federation in the process of joining the WTO:
THE LEVEL OF EXPORT (EXPORT) CUSTOMS DUTIES.
1.1. The situation in the Russian Federation.
One of the distinctive features of the foreign trade policy of the Russian Federation, in comparison with many other participants in international trade, is the active use of export customs duties. They were first introduced by Government Decree No. 91 of December 31, 1991 "On the introduction of an export tariff for Certain Goods
1 The development strategy of the New Uzbekistan for 20222026 and the State program for its implementation in the "Year of Ensuring Human Interests and Mahalla Development" was approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated January 28, 2022 for No. UP-60
Exported from the Territory of the Russian Federation". To date, export customs duties are levied on goods that form the basis of Russian exports - mineral raw materials (including crude oil and natural gas), fertilizers, metals, fish, etc.
According to the documents on Russia's accession to the WTO, export duties were initially applied to about 700 tariff subsubpositions. As a result of the negotiation process with the WTO member countries, a gradual reduction of export duties was envisaged for a number of goods, with a transition period from one year (mustard seeds) to five years (leather). In some cases, at the end of the transition period, the reduction of export duties was assumed to be zero (crabs), and in other situations, only a reduction in the rate was envisaged (a number of metals). Depending on the type of goods, it was assumed to use ad valorem, specific, and alternative methods of calculating duties. For some types of products, primarily hydrocarbons (crude oil and gas condensate), it was envisaged to use a formula, the main element of which is the world price of crude oil. [11-12]
1.2. The situation in Uzbekistan. Considering that according to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. UP-1871 of October 10, 1997, export customs duties on all types of goods have been abolished in the republic since November 1, 1997, this issue currently has no practical significance for Uzbekistan.
2. PROTECTION OF DOMESTIC AUTOMOTIVE AND RELATED INDUSTRIES.
2.1. The situation in the Russian Federation. In
modern conditions, the automotive industry is an important component of the machine-building complex and the entire manufacturing industry of Russia. The domestic automotive industry is represented by enterprises in all segments of the automotive industry. In the Russian Federation, the production of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, trailers, special and military vehicles, as well as automotive components (engines, transmissions, chassis, automotive electrical equipment and automotive electronics, etc.) has been established, about 400 enterprises and organizations operate in the industry.
According to Rosstat data for 2020, the automotive industry accounted for only 0.4% of Russia's GDP, and another 0.9% of GDP was the share of the wholesale and retail trade in motor vehicles and motorcycles and their repair. About 400 thousand jobs are provided directly in car and component manufacturing companies. In addition, the industry creates about 1 million jobs in dependent and dealer companies. The production of automotive equipment is carried out in close cooperation with enterprises of electrical, metallurgical, chemical, electronic, light and other industries. Due to the multiplicative effect, the automotive industry provides additional employment in the country's economy in related industries for about 4.5 million people.
WTO member countries. This paper reviews the experience of a number of foreign countries in their accession to the WTO.
If we compare the importance of the automotive industry in Russia with similar indicators in other countries, it should be noted that the above indicator of the industry's share in domestic GDP (about 1%) is noticeably lower than similar indicators in the leading manufacturing countries. According to the EU countries that have this industry, its share in GDP is about 2-3%. A significant lag from developed countries is characteristic of the domestic automotive industry and in terms of labor intensity of production and labor productivity. The Russian automotive industry, in comparison with the American one, produces products in kind almost 6.5 times less (1.7 million cars in Russia about 11 million in the USA). At the same time, the output per worker is about 4.4 cars per year, and in the USA - about 12 cars per year (in Russia, about 400 thousand people are employed in the automotive industry, and in the USA -about 800 thousand).
The impact of Russia's accession to the WTO has had an impact on the development of the domestic automotive industry and the automotive market. The most serious changes have taken place in the field of customs regulation. The level of import customs duty has been reduced from 25% to 15%. Moreover, the decline occurred during the 7-year transition period. The main reduction in the tariff is in the last year of the specified transition period. Thus, the level of protection of the domestic market has remained at a fairly high level for quite a long time. It is hardly worth counting on the fact that all imported cars will immediately become cheaper in accordance with the reduction of customs duties.
In addition, already in the initial period, the level of import customs duties for cars aged 3-7 years decreased from 35% to 25%. The specific component of the customs duty has also been reduced from the level of 1.2 - 2.8 euros for each cubic centimeter of the engine to 0.7 - 1.6 euros. Thus, the Russian automotive industry, along with agriculture, became the "main victims" of joining the WTO.
Further research has shown that certain changes have been made in this sector of the economy in the procedure for concluding agreements on the industrial assembly regime, since they contradict the WTO TRIMS agreement in terms of restricting the rights of foreign investors, imposing a certain level of localization on them. At the same time, duties or taxes on imported spare parts and components for such enterprises cannot be reduced or abolished.
In addition, the average number of cars per capita in Russia is still far from world figures. So in the country, one car accounts for 4 residents, while, for example, in Germany - for 2 people, and in the largest automotive power in the world - the United States, 765 cars are registered per 1000 residents.
Thus, the growth prospects are obvious. Despite the possible decrease in the attractiveness of Russia for the transfer of industrial assembly plants, the market potential is quite high.
2.2. The situation in Uzbekistan. As of the beginning of 2020, more than three million vehicles were registered in Uzbekistan, of which 89% were passenger cars. The domestic passenger car market was estimated at $2.6 billion, i.e. about 5% of Uzbekistan's GDP.
Despite the significant growth of cars over the past 5-10 years, the number of passenger cars per capita remains at a low level — 90 units per 1000 people.
For comparison, this indicator in Kazakhstan is 202 pcs., Russia - 300 pcs., Germany - 567 pcs., USA -800 pcs., etc. Thus, the automobile market of Uzbekistan has a great growth potential, limited by the purchasing power of the population. (Source: https ://www.spot.uz/ru/2020/02/24/auto /).
3. PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.
3.1. The situation in the Russian Federation. As a result of negotiations on access to the agricultural products market, it was agreed that at the end of the transition period, the average import duty rate will be 10.8% compared to the current 13.2%. At the same time, Russia stipulated the possibility of applying tariff quotas in agricultural trade. This applies to the trade in pork, beef, poultry meat and some types of dairy products.
The most sensitive goods, the domestic production of which could suffer most from the liberalization of trade rules upon joining the WTO, are meat and meat products, dairy products with a long shelf life (cheeses, milk powder, etc.) rice, sugar, seasonal vegetables. Before joining the WTO, they were best protected by tariff and customs regulation. For example, a fairly high level of protection of meat producers made it possible to overcome the decline in domestic production that has been observed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the peak of which was the crisis of 1998 - 1999.
The greatest concessions were made on rice farming. The duty protecting the industry had to be reduced almost three times (from 120 euros per ton to 45 euros). [13]
For Russia, one of the most important issues was the issue of state subsidies for agriculture. The final result of the negotiation process, characterizing the value of the maximum allowable level of state support for agriculture, is as follows: $9 billion in 2012-2013, followed by a decrease to $4.4 billion in 2018. These funds were supposed to be used to compensate the state for part of the costs of agricultural producers for fuel and lubricants, maintaining high purchase prices and low rates of "agrarian" loans, etc.
At the same time, joining the WTO contributed to a change in the structure of state support for Russian agriculture. The "green box" of support measures opens up significant opportunities, since their value is not specified in the WTO. The tools of such support can be actively and very flexibly used:
• apply subsidies for land cultivation, seed purchase, construction of new facilities, installation of energy-efficient equipment;
• to develop logistics, as well as industrial and social infrastructure in rural areas.
Such measures are an incentive to increase the efficiency of production in agriculture, make it possible to work for the long term, while direct subsidies simply keep farms afloat and are used as emergency measures.
An important achievement of Russia during the negotiations is the preservation of quotas for poultry and beef in the same volume. Russia can control poultry
and beef imports indefinitely, pork imports - until 2020. In accordance with the WTO accession agreements, the following amount of duties is established: for beef -15% within the quota and 55% above the quota. After the quota is canceled, a flat tariff works - 27.5%. For poultry meat - 25% within the quota and 80% above the quota. After the quota is abolished, there will be a single customs tariff rate of 37.5%. Pork duties within the quota will be reduced from 15% to 0 during the transition period. Outside the quota, duties will be reduced from 75% to 65%. Starting in 2020, after the quota is abolished, it is expected to apply a single customs duty of 25%. The duty on the import of meat products (pork fat, offal, etc.) was reduced from 25% to 15%. There was a sharp decrease in the level of duties on live pigs imported into Russia since joining the WTO: from 40% to 5% (8 times).
The consequences of joining the WTO for meat and meat products producers are very ambiguous. The situation was very favorable in the poultry market, since it had good protection and the share of imports could not exceed 10%. In the current conditions, the further development of pig breeding was under attack. Market participants predicted that with the reduction of the duty on the import of live pigs to Russia, a record number of animals - more than 1 million heads - would be immediately put to slaughter. As a result, the volume of pork, together with the supplied by-products, may amount to 1 million tons.
If we compare the scale of state support for meat production in Russia and abroad, the conditions for joining the WTO were fraught with serious threats to Russian producers of these products. Small and medium-sized enterprises were the most difficult to adapt to the new conditions. Large agricultural holdings, modernized enterprises, have more opportunities in this regard.
3.2. The situation in Uzbekistan. Agriculture is the leading sector of Uzbekistan's economy and plays a very important role in ensuring social and economic sustainability. The share of the industry in the gross domestic product of the Republic for 2020 amounted to 26.1%. In 2020, 49.5% of the value of agricultural products accounted for crop production and 50.5% - for animal husbandry.
There are about 80.1 thousand farms in the country, for which more than 3. 8 million hectares of land are assigned. About 20.7% of agricultural land is irrigated. Over the past 15 years, the availability of irrigated land per capita has decreased by 24.5%, which is due to population growth, a reduction in water supply and the transfer of agricultural land to other categories of the land fund.
The main crops grown are vegetables, grains and fruits. The climatic conditions of Uzbekistan favor the development of horticulture and viticulture. Uzbek vegetables, fruits and grapes are in demand and exported to many CIS countries. Recently, attempts have been made to increase the export of agricultural products to third countries.
4. TEXTILE INDUSTRY.
4.1. The situation in the Russian Federation.
Joining the WTO has put a number of branches of domestic industry in front of serious problems, primarily related to fierce global competition, higher international quality standards, as well as the deprivation of a certain level of state support. In comparative terms, one of the most vulnerable and unprotected industries turned out to be the textile and clothing industry. The Russian production of clothing, footwear and fabrics is not only a source of replenishment of the state budget, but also employment of the population in cities and towns, preservation of national centuries-old traditions. Textile and light industry are socially significant industries with significant potential and in need of active state support.
The main document regulating the principles of interaction of WTO members in the field of textile production is the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. The purpose of this Agreement is to eliminate the restrictions currently applied by some developed countries with respect to the import of textiles and clothing. To do this, the participating countries should reduce import duties on goods, limit the degree of state support, and enterprises should switch to an international product quality system.
The general approach to the formation of a negotiating position on textile products, which was supposed to take into account the balance of interests of both producers and consumers of these products, is as follows: for raw materials - a reduction in import duty rates to 3-5%, for fabrics - up to 10%, for finished products - up to 15-16%.
Russia's accession to the WTO has led to a reduction in import customs duties on imported products. In this regard, the import flow of yarn and cotton fabrics to Russia has increased. As a result of the negotiation process, the initial import customs rate for cotton fabrics at first was 15% (2012), and since 2014 it has decreased to 10 percent.
4.2. The situation in Uzbekistan.
A comparative analysis shows that the light industry in Uzbekistan, including textile and clothing production, in 2020, despite the difficulties associated with COVID-19, showed sustainable development, ending the year with production growth rates of 112.0% with 100.7% for the industry as a whole.
The contribution of the industry to the total volume of industrial production amounted to 17.2% in the reporting year, with the value of this indicator in 2016 being 16.7% and in 2019 - 15.5%.
In 2020, the production of products in kind increased by large enterprises: knitted outerwear almost doubled, cotton yarn - 1.7 times, cotton fabrics - 1.5 times, knitted fabric - 1.2 times.
According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, investments worth more than 32.4 trillion were invested in the fixed capital of textile and sewing and knitting industries of the republic in 2017-2020. sum, and for 2020 - 12.3 trillion. sum with an increase in investments compared to 2016 by almost 2.5 times. New facilities have been created and existing ones have been upgraded.
A retrospective analysis of the structure of the production of textile and clothing and knitwear products
for 1991-2020 showed that during the period 19912005 there was a noticeable decrease in the contribution of the production of finished products - clothing made of fabric and knitwear to the volume of production of the industry, the recovery of which began in subsequent years. By the end of 2020, the share of clothing production, being the final link in the production chain, value added has reached a fairly high value - 25.7%.
The implementation of cluster reform in Uzbekistan for the first time in February 2017 was proposed by the President of the Republic during a visit to the Bukhara region as part of the consistent implementation of measures to form market relations between farms and textile industry enterprises.
The development of production clusters that process local raw materials is one of the ways to mobilize resources in the regions to increase economic growth. As practice shows, the clusters being created successfully solve the problem of organizing cooperative ties between textile enterprises and farms, organized on the basis of concluding direct contracts for the cultivation of raw cotton by farms and its supply to a textile enterprise for further deep processing at their own production facilities and make an important contribution to the socio-economic development of both regions and the country as a whole.
The most important direction of using the internal reserves and capabilities of the industry was the gradual increase in the depth of processing of domestic raw materials, as well as the expansion of the volume and range of production of products with high added value. If earlier a significant share of cotton fiber was exported, then by the end of 2020 the fiber was completely processed into cotton yarn by domestic enterprises. As a result, yarn production in physical terms increased almost 3 times compared to 2016.
A great achievement of textile workers of Uzbekistan, thanks to the help of the state, is the restoration of the production of cotton fabrics. So, the release of only cotton fabrics containing 85 wt.% or more of cotton fibers for the analyzed period increased by 3.47 times and amounted to 118.8 million compared to 34.2 million in 2016. The production of knitted fabrics has increased by more than 3 times. At the same time, there is an increase in the production of finished products. The output of knitted underwear increased by 1.9 times, and knitted outerwear - by 115.9%.
Significant growth in exports of products. Textile and clothing-knitting industry among other industries is the most export-oriented. Thus, in terms of the share of exports in the volume of industrial production - an indicator characterizing the competitiveness of manufactured products, it is significantly ahead of other industries, while ensuring a significant increase in this indicator for the period 2016-2020 from 25.7% to 45.5%.
In general, the results of the negotiation process with the WTO countries for Russia in terms of goods and sectors are as follows:
♦ industrial goods:
- on average, the duty rate will decrease from 9.5% to 7.3%
- the transition period will be from 0 to 7 years (non-tariff measures)
- 1/3 of the goods will decrease immediately
- for 1/4 of the goods - for 3 years
- in 7 years - for the automotive industry, civil aircraft and helicopters;
♦ agricultural products:
- import duties will decrease from 13.2% to 10.8%
- government subsidies in 2012 should not exceed $9 billion, by 2018 it should decrease to $4.4 billion.
♦ service sector:
- 155 sectors discussed
- the right to exclude foreign companies has been retained in 39 sectors
- various special requirements and restrictions will be applied in 86 sectors (for example, banks - 50%, insurance - 55% market restriction for counterparties)
- in 30 sectors — free competition
♦ results after 7 years of customs duty:
- industry - decrease to 7%
- agriculture - decrease to 18% with fluctuations from 5 to 20%.
III. Experience of other CIS and Baltic countries.
Relations with the WTO have developed in a special way in the countries of the post-Soviet space. According to the nature of the negotiations , they can be divided into three groups:
- the first group includes the Baltic states, which started the process of WTO accession negotiations earlier than anyone else. With the support of the European Community, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania made minimal concessions by lowering customs duties, but otherwise defended their positions. Soon they became members of the EU and its obligations to the WTO extended to them.
- the second group - Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan - entered the WTO on fairly strict conditions, which to some extent can be explained by the haste in the negotiations. The US and the EU tried to speed up the negotiation process of these countries in order to move away from the centrally planned economy as soon as possible.
Of particular interest is the assessment of Kyrgyz-stan's participation in the WTO, the first in the CIS to join this organization. The leading participating countries used Kyrgyzstan as a raw material base and market to promote their products inside the CIS. This, to a large extent, explains his so rapid acceptance into this organization. The raw nature of exports, the underdeveloped domestic market and the lack of budget support led to the displacement of many domestic goods. It can be assumed that it was the republic's lack of preparedness for the conditions of the world market that led to such negative consequences. This is relevant for all CIS countries, including the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The accession to the WTO of the other States of the group under consideration cannot be assessed unambiguously. Although Moldova was able to defend the need to subsidize agriculture, it pledged to reduce its volume by 16% within four years - from $15.18 million to $12.78 million. In the financial sector, the republic still did not make concessions, allowing foreign banks to open only branches or subsidiaries.
Even before joining the WTO, Georgia's market was mainly imported, so prices on the market were adjusted slightly and it did not hit consumers' pockets. Unlike Georgia, Ukrainian enterprises suffered heavy losses due to the non-compliance of their products with quality standards and the lack of sufficient public funds.
- The third group includes Armenia, which joined the WTO on the most stringent conditions. The countries from the working group demanded to reduce to zero its assistance to agriculture, which at that time amounted to only $ 4.5 million per year. In the short term, Armenia's accession to the WTO did not have a significant impact either on the growth of the republic's exports or on attracting foreign investment. However, in the future, the state expects to receive considerable political and economic benefits from membership in the organization, in particular, the possibility of active integration into the world market at the expense of industries that do not require large transportation costs: information technology, the service sector, light and food industries.
II. China's Experience
China has 15 years of difficult negotiations, especially with the United States and the European Union, on WTO accession. China has agreed to undertake a wide range of commitments. In general, the key points that make up the package of documents on China's accession to the WTO are as follows:
Reduction of tariffs
• Tariffs for industrial products should be reduced from 25% to 7%.
• Tariffs on agricultural products should be reduced from 31% to 14%.
Obligations related to services
• Large-scale opening of a number of sectors in the service sector, including banking, insurance, telecommunications and professional services.
Systemic reforms
• Large-scale reforms in transparency, notification of upcoming legislative measures and their explanations, uniform application of laws and judicial supervision will help foreign companies operating in China to overcome barriers.
Compliance with the terms of existing WTO agreements.
• China undertakes obligations under a number of existing WTO agreements that cover all aspects of trade, such as agriculture, import licensing, trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade and trade-related investment measures.
Trade liberalization provisions relating only to China
• The right of direct import and export to and from China for three years.
• The right to distribute all goods in China no later than three years from the date of entry (except that
chemical fertilizers, crude oil and petroleum products can be distributed at the wholesale level after no more than five years after entry, and chemical fertilizers can be sold at the retail level after no more than five years after entry).
• Investment and import permits should no longer be subject to trade-distorting requirements, including technology transfer, currency balance, linking imports with export foreign exchange earnings and mandatory use of local resources.
• The right to export to China without creating an investment presence in this country.
• Gradual abolition of non-tariff measures (NTMs), such as quotas and licenses for hundreds of types of products, bearing in mind that NTMs that do not comply with WTO rules must be abolished by January 1, 2005.
• Abolition of the state monopoly on the import of agricultural and industrial goods.
• The requirement that State-owned enterprises must purchase and sell solely on the basis of commercial considerations.
• The abolition of subsidies for the export of agricultural products and the elimination of import substitution and subsidies for the export of industrial goods.
Protective mechanisms. WTO members may continue to apply special non-market methods for determining the facts of dumping in the framework of anti-dumping cases against China for the next 15 years.
- Acting within the framework of a specially established protective mechanism for China, WTO members can limit the growth of imports from China over the next 12 years, causing distortions in their markets.
The time and effort spent on agreeing on these commitments and requirements attest to China's determined intention to become a full-fledged participant in the global trade regime based on compliance with established rules. The victory in the struggle for WTO accession was not easy for China, but now it faces an equally important and difficult task. As can be seen from the above list of obligations and requirements, China is implementing the most serious changes to fulfill the obligations of a WTO member - it is restructuring industries, publishing previously closed laws and regulations, establishing formal procedures for resolving disputes in court, leveling the business conditions for foreign companies. China has agreed to reduce tariffs and abolish import quotas, abandon export subsidies and open the service sector to foreign competition. It was envisaged that some of these changes would be introduced immediately, and some would be implemented gradually over several years.
CONCLUSIONS
The study of the impact of the WTO formation process on the development and liberalization of world trade has shown that modern processes taking place in this industry are characterized by a number of features, in particular:
firstly, the scope of regulatory measures has significantly expanded, which, covering almost all branches of economic life, have gone far beyond the limits of customs and tariff policy;
secondly, the international mechanism for regulating foreign trade has changed qualitatively and has acquired a global character. In accordance with this, the role of coordinated international actions and coordinated efforts of various countries to liberalize foreign trade exchange has significantly increased.
The studied international scientific and analytical material showed that the process of joining the WTO consists of three main stages:
• preparation by the incoming country of a memorandum on the foreign trade regime, which describes in detail the policies and institutions of foreign trade;
• multilateral negotiations, including meetings of the working group in Geneva, as well as questions and answers aimed at clarifying facts of interest to WTO members about the trade regime of the incoming country;
• bilateral negotiations on tariff concessions, services and agricultural subsidies.
The last two stages in practice run in parallel. During the accession process, the country must bring the basic laws and trade measures in line with the WTO rules, as well as satisfy the requests and wishes of WTO members.
Taking into account the above, as well as the results obtained by us, allow us to draw some particular conclusions that are of interest from the point of view of further improving the organizational structure of the state customs service of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Along with this, it should be noted that, based on the positive and negative experience of the countries considered, a number of measures can be identified that Uzbekistan can apply, taking into account the possible consequences:
1. To support agriculture, using the positive aspects of WTO accession, to purchase and invest in new technologies, as a result of which the cost of production will decrease and its competitiveness will increase.
2. At the initial stage after the country's accession to the WTO, in order to support domestic producers, the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction and the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade should develop a system to support national producers and a system to encourage demand for their goods.
3. The State Customs Committee, together with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, to carry out explanatory work among entrepreneurs participating in foreign economic activity, noting the opportunities for business expansion when using the positive aspects of the country's accession to the WTO.
4. The Republic should not pursue a dumping policy (for example, in the field of textiles), since as a result of anti-dumping investigations and subsequent compensation payments to the affected countries, significant damage will be inflicted on the state budget.
In the context of the studied issues, the authors show that, in order to avoid negative consequences on the economy from Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO, this process is planned to be carried out on the basis of a comprehensive assessment of the readiness of individual sectors of the economy, various groups of domestic producers and the compliance of the used mechanisms of state regulation of the economy.
Thus, the main advantage that the Republic of Uzbekistan will receive by becoming a WTO member is that it will receive the status of a full participant in international cooperation in the field of trade, and will not
be subjected to unjustified discrimination on world markets. It should be noted here that the international community is beginning to recognize the results of the reforms taking place in Uzbekistan and is gradually lifting certain restrictions on trade with our country. So, in March of this year, the Global Coalition of Retail Trade Associations, human rights organizations and investor groups Cotton Campaign canceled the global boycott of cotton from Uzbekistan, which lasted for more than a decade. This decision is explained by the eradication of systematic child and forced labor in the cotton fields in the country.
At the same time, one of the main tasks of the Republic of Uzbekistan is to join the World Trade Organization on the terms and in such a time that will minimize possible losses for domestic producers and consumers, as well as ensure the worthy place of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the international trading system.
References
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ФАКТОРЫ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОГО РАЗВИТИЯ В УСЛОВИЯХ ГЛОБАЛИЗАЦИИ
Багирова Т.А., Тагиева Г.А.
Азербайджанский Государственный Аграрный Университет
старший преподаватель
FACTORS OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONDITIONS OF GLOBALIZATION
Bagirova T., Tagiyeva G.
Azerbaijan State Agrarian University Senior Lecturer
Аннотация
В статье представлены результаты исследования, проведенного с целью выявления ключевых направлений региональной парадигмы развития к условиям глобализации. Методология исследования основана на подходе системного анализа. Исследования показывают, что глобализация создает новые факторы и возможности, существенно влияющие на развитие стран и регионов внутри страны. В конце по результатам исследования были даны концептуальные рекомендации к условиям глобализации и адаптации политики регионального развития и системы его планирования в Азербайджанской Республике.
Abstract
The article presents the results of a study conducted to identify the key directions of the regional development paradigm to the conditions of globalization. The research methodology is based on the system analysis approach. Studies show that globalization creates new factors and opportunities that significantly affect the development of countries and regions within the country. At the end, based on the results of the study, conceptual recommendations were given to the conditions of globalization and adaptation of the regional development policy and its planning system in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Ключевые слова: региональное развитие, глобализация, системный анализ, парадигма, концептуальные рекомендации.
Keywords: regional development, globalization, system analysis, paradigm, conceptual recommendations.
Текущая стратегия регионального развития, реализуемая в Азербайджанской Республике, позволяет обеспечить устойчивое и сбалансированное развитие регионов страны, в том числе формирование конкурентоспособной экономики, основанной на принципах устойчивого развития, отвечающего высоким стандартам социального обеспечения, эффективного использования природных ресурсов и надежная защита окружающей среды направлена на создание благоприятной среды [1].
Передовой международный опыт показывает, что помимо программ, разработанных и реализуемых на национальном уровне, для дальнейшего укрепления и приумножения достижений страны в развитии регионов, в том числе районов и сельских территорий, а также отдельных регионов, развития и реализация согласованных планов развития административных районов и местных административ-
ных единиц позволяет добиться более высоких результатов. Обычно эти планы варьируются от страны к стране и от региона к региону, поэтому целесообразно начать с разработки концептуальной основы для разработки планов регионального развития в конкретной стране в соответствии с местными особенностями этой страны. Вместе с тем, в современный период активизации глобализации, в связи с усилением влияния международных факторов на внутренние, в том числе региональные процессы развития, актуальной стала адаптация политики регионального развития, в том числе методологической парадигмы ее планирования, к условиям глобализации. В связи с усилением глобализации в современное время парадигма регионального развития нуждается в учете возрастающего влияния международных факторов на внутренние процессы и движущие силы регионального развития.
