Central Asia Import Rules Shift: Uzbekistan Lifts Annual

For Chinese exporters this is both a window and a dividing line: Uzbekistan loosened its annual cap, Kazakhstan tightened OTTC certification, and Kyrgyzstan's duty-free quota is nearly exhausted — so quotes now need per-country recalculation.

Uzbekistan scrapped its nearly 9-year-old restriction on 5 June — Decree 104 abolished the one-certificate-per-car-per-year rule. In 2024 it imported about 74,700 vehicles worth $1.28 billion from China, an 81.7% share, while LHD, petrol Euro 4 and diesel Euro 5 requirements remain unchanged. Exporters can now consolidate single-car orders into bulk trade lots.

Kazakhstan keeps OTTC type approval plus VAT. Certification follows TR CU 018/2011; a full cycle takes 6-10 weeks and costs $50,000-150,000. Euro 5 is fully mandatory from 2026, so Euro 4 models cannot obtain a certificate — certify every model before shipment and spread the cost into the landed quote.

Kyrgyzstan raised its 2026 duty-free quota from 10,000 to 15,000 units, but 14,014 had been used by late August — only 986 slots remain, then a 15% duty applies. In 2025 it re-exported 53,600 new cars to Russia, 84% Chinese brands — a narrowing window that directly affects Russia and Belarus channel timing.

Act: build a per-country comparison table — eligibility, certification time, duties, remaining quota; require valid certificates with expiry liability and put shipment deadlines plus policy buffers into delivery terms; share the rule changes with your Russia-Belarus channel customers before they quote under old rules.