Uzbekistan overhauls technical regulation framework with presidential decree
President Mirziyoyev signed decree No. 25 on 16 February 2026, mandating full alignment of Uzbekistan’s technical regulation, standardisation, metrology and accreditation systems with international best practices. The reforms introduce market surveillance, a new national conformity mark, sector-by-sector adoption of international standards and significant institutional restructuring, with phased implementation running from 2026 to 2028.
What has changed and why it matters
On 16 February 2026, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a Decree No. 25, launching the most significant overhaul of Uzbekistan's technical regulation system in years. The decree aims to dismantle ineffective legacy control mechanisms and replace them with a risk-based, internationally aligned framework covering standardisation, metrology, conformity assessment and market surveillance.
Key institutional changes include:
- The Uzbekistan Accreditation Centre is transferred from the Technical Regulation Agency to the Cabinet of Ministers, ensuring operational independence
- The Uzbekistan Scientific Testing and Quality Control Centre is liquidated, with its certification bodies dissolved
- The Uzbekistan Standards Institute is reorganised by absorbing parts of the former centre
- From 1 July 2026, a new "Conformity Uzbekistan" (CU) national conformity mark replaces mandatory certification for products covered by technical regulations, assessed on a risk-based basis
Phased sector-by-sector implementation
The decree sets a clear timeline for adoption of full international standards across industry:
- From 1 July 2026: Textiles, leather, furniture, electrical engineering, automotive and ICT
- From 1 January 2027: Oil and gas, metallurgy, transport, construction products and medical devices
- From 1 January 2028: Energy, chemicals, ecology and services
Technical regulations covering 17 product groups, including personal protective equipment, pressure equipment, medical devices, radio equipment and wheeled vehicles, are scheduled for review and replacement between 2026 and 2028, benchmarked against EU, Korean, Japanese, Australian and other leading regulatory frameworks.
The decree allocates 78.8 billion UZS (approx. USD 6.5 million) for adoption of international standards from 2026 to 2028 and 250 billion UZS (approx. USD 20.6 million) for the procurement of high-precision measurement standards and equipment in 2026 alone.
Business environment and compliance implications
From 1 April 2026, businesses in the conformity assessment sector benefit from:
- Deductions from accreditation service revenues reduced 2.5-fold to 2%, retained fully by the Accreditation Centre
- A prohibition on new state-run testing laboratories or certification bodies in sectors where two or more accredited private operators already exist
- Permission to conduct conformity assessment against foreign standards required for export markets
From 1 September 2026, all test reports from accredited laboratories must be registered in the "e-akkreditatsiya" information system.
The decree also establishes a "Quality Assistant" digital platform and mandates that designated deputy heads of 36 state bodies and major state-owned enterprises act as Quality Managers, integrating international standards implementation as a measurable performance indicator.
What this means for your business
For international companies operating in or exporting to Uzbekistan, this decree represents a significant shift in the compliance landscape. The move to risk-based conformity assessment, the phased withdrawal of mandatory certification across key sectors and the introduction of the "Conformity Uzbekistan" mark will affect product approval pathways, testing requirements and market entry strategies. Companies in textiles, automotive, ICT, medical devices, construction and energy sectors should begin assessing how the phased adoption of international standards affects their supply chains, certification arrangements and regulatory timelines.
Get in touch to discuss what these changes mean for your operations.