Prices for the export of fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan are not recommended to be regulated. Experts

The recent resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on regulating prices for the export of fruits and vegetables concerned specialists of the fruit and vegetable business of Uzbekistan and experts in the fruit and vegetable sector. They understand better than anyone that a return to the utopia of manual export management will create new opportunities for corruption, but will not help the industry in any way.

"Now the government of the country will set recommended export prices for vegetables and fruits, and if the real selling price is lower by 20% or more, then exporting products, apparently, will not work," analysts at EastFruit say.

In addition, the list of vegetables and fruits that fall under the regulation is unknown – it will be approved before May 1, 2024. It is likely that the list of prices subject to state regulation will include all the main export positions of the country.

"The government suggests updating recommended prices once a week, but the mechanism for determining them is as vague as possible. In particular, even diplomatic missions of Uzbekistan abroad will participate in setting prices on foreign markets, " the experts were surprised.

There are a number of reasons why it is impossible to implement such price controls for vegetables and fruits in practice. Here are the arguments to EastFruit:

1. Prices for vegetables and fruits, especially for early products that Uzbekistan specializes in exporting, often change several times in one week.

2. Prices for the same type of vegetable or fruit depend on the variety, caliber, packaging and many other parameters and may differ 3-5 or more times. Therefore, it is not possible to set one recommended price for conditional "tomatoes" or "apples".

3. Uzbekistan does not have the necessary specialists to conduct high-quality price monitoring of international markets, and their training will take at least 6 months and will be expensive.

4. The cost of creating and administering a system of such price monitoring, which will do absolutely nothing, will exceed the possible income from "shadow exports". But the losses from the deterioration of conditions for the export of vegetables and fruits may be significant.

Against the background of serious problems faced by Uzbekistan in the export of vegetables and fruits, it is illogical to complicate the life of exporters and create new opportunities for corruption. It is better to simplify opportunities for export and diversification of export supplies of fruit and vegetable products in Uzbekistan.