On measures for cardinal improvement of licensing and permitting procedures (DP-6044-son)

24.08.2020

Decree

of the president of the republic of uzbekistan

In recent years, the republic has taken consistent measures to radically improve the business and investment climate, elimination of unnecessary bureaucratic barriers, improvement of outdated procedures that do not meet modern requirements.

The work carried out in these areas has created a solid foundation for the start of a new stage of liberalization and institutional reform of the licensing and permitting system.

In order to radically improve licensing and permitting procedures, as well as create broader conditions for the activities of business entities by eliminating bureaucratic barriers, I hereby decree:

1. To agree with the proposals of the Ministry of Justice, the Authorized Person for the Protection of the Rights and Legal Interests of Business Entities, the Antimonopoly Committee and the Chamber of Commerce, providing for:

at the first stage (in 2020) - reduction and transfer to alternative methods of regulation of certain types of licenses and permissive documents that do not harm the health of citizens and society, simplification of procedures in order to minimize the reclamation of unnecessary documents and reduce the time and money spent by business entities, ensuring transparency through the complete digitalization of the processes for issuing the relevant documents;

at the second stage (in 2020-2021) - the systematization of acts of legislation in the field of licensing and issuance of permits, the development of passports for the provision of public services, a radical reduction in the number of normative legal acts by introducing standard administrative regulations for the issuance of certain types of licenses and permits.

2. To establish that from January 1, 2021:

a) some types of licensed activities and permissive documents:

shall be canceled in accordance with Appendix No. 1*;

shall be canceled by merging in accordance with Appendix No. 2*;

shall be canceled by introducing a notification procedure in accordance with Appendix No. 3*;

b) time limits of registration of certain types of licensed activities and permissive documents shall be reduced in accordance with Appendix No. 4*.

Licenses or documents of a permissive nature issued for an activity (action) in respect of which a notification procedure has been introduced, shall continue to operate and a notification of the authorized body is not required to carry out this activity (action).

To the bodies authorized to issue licenses and permissive documents, as well as to accept notifications (hereinafter referred to as authorized bodies), by January 1, 2021, to conduct an inventory and maintain a register of previously issued licenses and permits based on the new procedure.

3. To approve the Plan of measures aimed at further reducing and simplifying the procedures for obtaining licenses and permits, in accordance with Appendix No. 5*.

* Appendices Nos. 1 - 5 are given in Uzbek.

4. From January 1, 2021:

a) to establish that the certification of tour operators' services is voluntary when licensing tourism activities;

b) to cancel:

the requirement for documents confirming consent to exchange credit information with at least 10 commercial banks when licensing the activities of credit bureaus;

the practice of issuing a separate license for branches of legal entities by introducing the practice of specifying the address of each branch in the main license when licensing activities for the retail sale of drugs and medical products by legal entities licensed for this activity, when creating their branches carrying out similar activities;

the procedure for requesting receipt of letters of guarantee from local government bodies from the applicant when obtaining a license for the right to use subsoil plots.

5. To establish that:

activities carried out by way of notification shall include activities that do not require a decision by the authorized body to start an activity or take an action, but carried out by taking on obligations to comply with the requirements and conditions established in acts of legislation to ensure state regulation, as well as maintain records of entities engaged in relevant activities;

physical persons and legal entities shall confirm, by sending a notification, compliance with the requirements and conditions specified in acts of legislation for the implementation of activities or actions in respect of which the notification procedure has been introduced. In this respect, in the process of submitting documents through an automated electronic system, a check shall be carried out for compliance with the requirements and conditions specified in acts of legislation, with priority without human intervention;

lists of activities requiring a license, permitting documents and notification of the authorized body shall be approved by law and after the adoption of the relevant law, it is not allowed to require physical persons and legal entities to undergo administrative procedures to carry out activities or actions not included in these lists. n

6. To prohibit the authorized bodies to carry out the following actions:

refuse to provide public services due to the presence of arrears of the license applicant for compulsory payments for the supply of electricity, natural gas, water supply and sewerage services, for the collection and removal of solid household waste, as well as executive documents for issuance, prolongation and renewal of licenses;

replace licenses and permissive documents with contracts concluded between state bodies and business entities;

directly or indirectly coerce business entities to use other types of paid services or obtain permits that are not provided for in licensing and permissive requirements and conditions, in the process of considering applications for the issuance of licenses and permissive documents, issuing these documents, as well as exercising control functions.

7. To extend until January 1, 2021 the validity period of all licenses and permissive documents that expire in 2020 and prohibit prosecution and other measures due to their expiration.

8. To abolish from January 1, 2021 the right to carry out activities without obtaining an appropriate license of state unitary enterprises and non-state organizations engaged in licensed activities, created by decisions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan or the Cabinet of Ministers.

9. To the Ministry of Justice, together with the Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications, until January 1, 2021, to ensure the development and launch of the “License” information system with a special mobile application covering all processes related to licensing, permitting and notification procedures, which has the ability to implement interdepartmental electronic interaction.

In this respect, take into account that the information system “License” shall have the following capabilities:

a) for going through licensing, permitting and notification procedures:

submitting an application for a license and permitting documents or extending their validity period and documents attached to it, receiving electronic licenses and permissive documents with a QR code (matrix bar code);

consideration of applications and making decisions on the issuance or refusal to issue licenses and permissive documents by the authorized bodies;

sending notifications to notify the authorized body of the beginning or termination of activities and receiving confirmation of the acceptance of the notification;

implementation of electronic payment of state duties, fees and all types of payments for consideration of an application through the Unified Billing System;

acceptance and consideration of applications for re-issuance, suspension and cancellation of licenses and permissive documents;

b) on the interaction of authorized bodies in the implementation of licensing, permitting and notification procedures:

independent receipt of additional documents and information from other authorized bodies, as well as coordination with them on the “one-stop-shop” principle without the participation of a business entity;

maintaining automated registers of issued licenses and permitting documents, as well as business entities that have sent notifications;

verification of information related to licenses and permissive documents, as well as notifications through the databases of the relevant departments in automatic mode;

c) to monitor compliance with the requirements and conditions of licenses and documents of a permitting nature, as well as notifications:

implementation of remote control by authorized bodies over compliance with the requirements and conditions of licenses and documents of a permitting nature, as well as notifications;

monitoring the consideration of applications at each stage of the provision of public services;

appeals of authorized bodies to the court or other departments in relation to actions related to licenses or documents of a permitting nature, as well as notifications, including cancellation and suspension;

introduction of public control over the consideration of applications, decisions on the issue or refusal to issue, suspension of licenses and permissive documents, as well as the submission of information about engaging in relevant activities without a license or permitting document or without sending a notification, as well as facts of violation of established requirements and conditions with a direct indication of the place of violation;

maintaining an automatically generated rating of authorized bodies;

introduction of the "risk analysis" system based on the specifics of licenses and permissive documents issued by authorized bodies, as well as activities carried out by way of notification, with the definition of specific criteria for monitoring the activities (actions) of physical persons and legal entities.

10. To establish the procedure according to which, from January 1, 2021:

the procedures for licensing, permitting, and notification shall be carried out step-by-step fully in electronic form through the "License" information system or the Single Interactive State Services Portal, with the exception of procedures containing state secrets and information the use of which is restricted in accordance with legislation;

applications for the issuance of a license and permissive documents, as well as notification of the authorized body and the documents attached to them shall be accepted in electronic form via the Internet through the Single portal of interactive public services;

all types of licenses and permissive documents, as well as letters of acceptance of notifications and their inclusion in the register shall be drawn up by affixing a QR code (matrix bar code), which makes it possible to check online the reliability of these documents and the procedure for their issuance on special forms shall be canceled, with the exception of documents requiring registration on special paper forms in accordance with international treaties;

receipt of additional documents or coordination with other authorized bodies shall be carried out by the main authorized body independently, without the participation of a business entity, through the information system “License”, including by connecting to an integrated platform that does not require a response, which allows to receive information directly. In the absence of a response from other authorized bodies within the established time frame, additional documents shall be considered received or agreed with them, while these authorized bodies shall be responsible for all possible consequences;

physical persons who have identified the facts of conducting relevant activities without a license or without a permitting document or without sending a notification, also associated with a violation of the established requirements and conditions, as well as cases of violation of the legislation when the authorized bodies are considering applications, issuing licenses and permitting documents or refusing their issuance, as well as the suspension of their action, and those who reported them to the authorized bodies, shall be encouraged by a monetary reward in the amount of 10 percent of the amount of the levied fine upon confirmation of the offense;

termination and cancellation of licenses and permissive documents on the initiative of the authorized bodies shall be carried out exclusively in court, except for cases of non-payment by the licensee of the state fee for issuing a license;

applicant, who has a license to carry out a type of activity in a certain area, when applying for a license for a type of activity in the same area, shall submit to the licensing authority information that meets only additional licensing requirements and conditions;

upon notifying the authorized body of the commencement of activities, a fee shall be charged in the amount of up to 50 percent of the base calculated value, with the exception of notifications of the beginning of construction and installation work and retail trade in alcoholic beverages.

11. To take into account that the information system “License” shall be developed on the basis of an open tender with the attraction of grant funds from a joint project of the Public Services Agency, the United Nations Development Program and the European Union “Improving the provision of public services and increasing the level of governance in rural areas of Uzbekistan”.

In connection with the development of the information system “License”, to suspend the development of all electronic programs by government departments and organizations for the implementation of licensing procedures, issuance of permits and notifications, as well as control over their requirements and conditions, in this respect the development of these programs can be continued in accordance with a positive conclusion the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry for the Development of Information Technology and Communications.

Funds scheduled for programs, the development of which is suspended, should be directed to the creation of departmental infrastructure and bases necessary for the functioning of the information system “License”.

12. The Ministry of Justice shall be designated as the competent authority for maintaining the "License" information system and shall be granted the power to monitor the compliance of state bodies and other organizations with the procedures for licensing, issuing documents of a permit nature, and notification.

13. Work on improving the "License" information system and organizing its integration with the departmental information systems and databases of state bodies shall be carried out at the expense of the funds of the Development of Public Services Fund of the Ministry of Justice and other sources not prohibited by legislation.

The Ministry of Justice shall be designated as the operator of the "License" information system.

To the Ministry of Justice, within six months after the full launch of the information system "License", transfer it in accordance with the established procedure to the jurisdiction of the Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications at no cost.

14. To establish that:

each license, permissive and the notification procedure shall be reviewed at least once every five years with an assessment of the goals achieved as a result of its implementation, the current state of socio-economic, innovative and technological development, as well as the costs of business entities;

if the draft normative legal act provides for the introduction of a new type of licensed activity, a permitting document or a procedure for notification of the commencement of activities, an assessment of the regulatory impact of this procedure shall be mandatory;

Drafts of normative-legal acts providing for the introduction of new types of licenses, documents of a permit nature, and the procedure for notification of the commencement of activities, as well as changing the forms of their regulation, shall be submitted to the Ministry of Justice only if there are positive conclusions from the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction and the Committee for the Development of Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights, as well as in coordination with the Authorized Person for the Protection of the Rights and Legitimate Interests of Entrepreneurial Entities and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

15. To the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, the State Tax Committee and the Chamber of Commerce for the implementation of the second phase of a comprehensive and systematic reform of licensing and permitting procedures with the involvement of business entities:

a) within three months, by combining the laws “On Licensing of Certain Types of activity” and “On licensing procedures in the field of entrepreneurial activity” to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers a complete draft law providing for:

establishing a unified and transparent procedure for passing licensing, permitting and notification procedures;

determination of the powers of authorized bodies and organizations that draw up and approve licenses and documents of a permissive nature, as well as receive notifications;

introduction of a unified system for protecting the rights and interests of physical persons and legal entities entering into relationships with authorized bodies and organizations in the process of going through licensing and permitting procedures;

approval of the list of licensed types of activities, permitting documents in the field of entrepreneurial activity, as well as activities and actions carried out in the manner of notification of the authorized body;

establishment of licensing requirements and conditions in legislative acts by abandoning the practice of registration of licensing agreements;

clarification of the procedure for the implementation by branches and representative offices of legal entities of activities requiring licensing, obtaining a permit or notification;

a specific definition of the procedure for revoking a license and the types of activities subject to revocation in accordance with this procedure;

monitoring the status of compliance with licensing and permitting requirements and conditions by introducing a "risk analysis" system;

b) together with the Authorized Person for the Protection of the Rights and Legal Interests of Business Entities, the Antimonopoly Committee and authorized bodies in order to systematize legislative acts in the field of licensing and permitting procedures, by February 1, 2021, to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers a draft normative legal act on the development and codification of their passports,

16. To the Ministry of Justice to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers:

together with the General Prosecutor's Office, within three months, a draft law establishing the liability of legal entities and physical persons for engaging in activities requiring a license or permitting document or mandatory notification, without obtaining a license or permission, or without sending a notification, as well as for providing the authorized body with false or inaccurate information on the fulfillment of the established requirements for the implementation of activities in the notification procedure;

by December 1, 2020, the procedure for encouraging physical persons who have identified and sent reports to the authorized bodies on the relevant facts of offenses;

together with the interested ministries and departments, within three months, proposals on changes and additions to the legislation arising from this Decree.

17. In order to ensure the effective and timely implementation of the measures provided for in this Decree:

a) to Deputy Prime Minister D. Kuchkarov, in connection with the introduction of the notification procedure, instead of some types of licensing and permitting procedures, to ensure the approval of provisions on the notification procedure after the adoption of the relevant law;

b) To the Ministry of Justice (Davletov):

approve the schedule for organizing meetings with authorized bodies, including through the online video communication system;

on the basis of the approved schedule, explain to the authorized bodies the procedures provided for in this Decree and the principles of functioning of the information system "License";

provide the authorized bodies with practical assistance in the preparation of relevant drafts;

c) to the Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications (Sadikov):

together with the Ministry of Justice, to take measures to ensure integration with the information system "License" of departmental information systems of all state bodies issuing licenses and permissive documents participating in the approval processes;

Ensure the continuous operation of the "License" information system and, upon identification of defects and malfunctions in the operation of the "License" information system by the Ministry of Justice, ensure their elimination within three days based on the request of the Ministry;

d) to authorized bodies:

within two months, to take measures to connect to the "License" information system and integrate their electronic systems, create an appropriate infrastructure and form their electronic databases;

timely and efficiently develop regulations on the procedure for passing licensing and permitting procedures for certain types of activities, as well as the procedure for notification;

to ensure, in the prescribed manner, the issuance of licenses to organizations created by decisions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government and engaged in licensed activities, prior to the adoption of this Decree, on the basis of their applications;

e) to the General Prosecutor's Office (Yuldoshev):

together with the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Authorized Person for the Protection of the Rights and Legal Interests of Business Entities, to establish systematic control over the implementation of legislation in the field of licensing procedures, issuance of permits and notification;

analyze the reasons and conditions that led to the automatic issuance of licenses, permissive documents, including positive conclusions upon interdepartmental agreement due to non-compliance with the established deadlines, to take measures to prevent the occurrence of corruption;

f) The Committee for the Development of Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights (Sharaxmetov) shall prevent the restriction of competition by means of creating barriers to the entry (operation) of new business entities into the markets through unjustified refusal or inaction during the process of licensing, issuing documents of a permit nature, and notification, and shall monitor the validity of the formation of the amounts of state duties and fees for permit procedures;

g) to the Authorized Person for the Protection of the Rights and Legal Interests of Business Entities (Kasimov) to exercise control over the conduct by authorized bodies of inspections of the activities of entities holding a license and permits, within the limits of the requirements of licenses and permits;

h) to the Agency for Information and Mass Communications (Khodzhaev), together with the National Information Agency of Uzbekistan and the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan, to take measures to widely publicize the measures established in this Decree among the population, with the involvement of the media, domestic and foreign experts, as well as civil society institutions.

18. To entrust control over the implementation of this Decree to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.N.Aripov and the Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan Z.Sh. Nizomiddinov.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoyev

Tashkent,

August 24, 2020,

No. DP-6044