Uzbekistan Plans to Cancel Preferential Customs Import Value-Added Tax on Part of Medicine in 2011

According to the recent reports by foreign media, the Uzbekistan Government plans to reduce preference of customs import value-added tax on medicines whose local output can satisfy domestic demands from January 1, 2011, which aims at supporting pharmaceutical enterprises in Uzbekistan. Related reports say that the capacity by pharmaceutical enterprises in Uzbekistan can only satisfy 10% to 15% of its total demands. Only 10% of the needed medicines by the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan come from domestic purchase, and the left depends on imports.