President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has held a meeting on the effectiveness of reforms in the system of technical regulation, standardization, certification and metrology.

To improve the quality and competitiveness of products, it is crucial to bring national standards in line with international requirements and implement them at enterprises. In recent years, 43 percent of standards in Uzbekistan have been raised to world standards, securing thus 12 thousand international standards. These efforts have helped boost export opportunities, too.

For instance, the European OEKO-Tex and Sedex standards for textile and knitted goods have been introduced at 21 enterprises. Thanks to this, the company Samo Textile in Andijan region, in particular, has supplied $ 5 million worth of products to the European markets. Bukhara Cotton Textile has also exported $ 5 million merchandise to the US, UK, Turkey and Germany.

In addition, owing to the introduction of the renowned CE marking, confirming the safety of products, Uzbekistan-made17 types of household appliances, cables, medical devices reached eight European countries.

As a continuation of these efforts, the modernization of 14 laboratories specializing in food, metallurgical and light industry products will be completed by the end of the year, it was reported at the session.

The meeting participants analyzed the effectiveness of all these efforts and discussed important tasks for the future.

Speaking on the issue, the head of state noted the importance of granting the Uzstandard Agency a status of a national body and targeted implementation of new standards at enterprises.

“We should make sure that the national standard has its own ‘weighty voice’ in production matters,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev insisted.

The President urged the executives to bring the number of international standards implemented in the country to 14 thousand and the level of compliance with national standards to 50 percent by the end of next year.

Responsible ministries and associations have been instructed to expand the application of OEKO-Tex standard in textile factories, CE marking in the electrical industry, along with Global G.A.P. and Organic systems in agriculture. Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed the importance of assisting enterprises introducing international standards and covering a part of related costs from the funds of the Export Promotion Agency.

“A product will never be competitive unless it has an international standard. It is essential thus to deliver an environment whereby every entrepreneur in the country knows and understands the standards,” the President underscored.

The head of state urged Uzstandard Agency to devise roadmaps for 2021 for the realization of international standards in the production of automotive components, in the chemical, food and building materials industries.

Factories and plants have to be in constant search of improvement to their products in line with market requirements. Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that building on this practice, standards limiting the capacities of manufacturers should be transferred to the category of voluntary.

The President gave directives to get rid of more than 5 thousand outdated standards, and bring technical regulations for product safety in line with the requirements of Europe and the Eurasian Economic Union. In the meantime, the number and scope of safety requirements will be increased to prevent the imports of poor quality goods.

The head of our state pointed to the need to intensify the participation of Uzstandard Agency in the work of international organizations in standardization and metrology.

The Agency was also instructed to reach agreement with the Economic Commission’s technical committee on dried fruits, as well as to ensure full membership in the International Accreditation Forum next year.

Special attention was paid to the development of science and education in this area. The President noted that next year, research should be carried out in the field of energy efficiency in conjunction with the Tashkent State Technical University, on genetics of agricultural products with the Institute of Chemical Technology, on synthetic fibers with the Textile Institute, on biologically active additives with the Center for Advanced Technologies.

Academic departments for building materials, IT and water-saving technologies are to be established at the Uzbek National Institute of Metrology. The Ministry of Innovative Development has been tasked with providing scholarships for scientific research.

Uzstandard Agency held a presentation of the work undertaken and plans for the future.

Source: Official website of the President of Uzbekistan