March 29, 2024

Accreditation of representative offices of foreign commercial organizations.

  1. Concept of accreditation

Accreditation is a procedure for granting permission to open representative offices of foreign commercial organizations (hereinafter – “Representative Office”) on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

On 07.02.2024 the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution №76 “On Approval of the Regulations on the Procedure of Accreditation and Activities of Representative Offices of Foreign Commercial Organizations”, which will come into force on 09.05.2024.

Foreign commercial organizations are firms, companies, corporations, partnerships, and other organizational-legal forms of entrepreneurial activity, which in accordance with the legislation of a foreign state have the right to open representative offices abroad.

  1. Legal status of representative offices

A representative office:

  • is not a legal entity;
  • may not carry out economic or other commercial activities;
  • is established to represent and protect its interests on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

However, representative offices of foreign airlines have the right to carry out commercial activities in accordance with the procedure determined by the legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as international treaties.

Taxation of representative offices as well as personnel of foreign commercial organizations is carried out in accordance with the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan as well as international treaties. In particular, part 4 of Article 129 of the Tax Code states that registration in the tax authorities of a foreign legal entity at the place of its activities through an accredited branch and (or) representative office is carried out on the basis of information provided by the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

  1. Organization of activities of representative offices

According to the above-mentioned Resolution №76, some changes were introduced in the procedure of accreditation and organization of activities of representative offices. Let us consider each of them in detail below.

A representative office operates on the basis of the Regulation on the representative office approved by the foreign commercial organization that established it. The representative office is headed by the head of the representative office acting on the basis of a power of attorney issued by the foreign commercial organization that established the representative office. The power of attorney shall specify the competence of the head of the representative office.

The head of the representative office shall provide information on the activities of the representative office upon request of the accrediting body.

Accreditation of the head of the representative office shall be carried out through submission of an application of the foreign commercial representative office to the accrediting body, or by power of attorney and shall be submitted by the head of the representative office. The following documents shall be attached to the application:

  • personal sheet in 2 copies in Uzbek and English languages;
  • copy of passport (ID card). At the same time, the internal affairs authorities are obliged to have information on registration by the Migration and Citizenship Registration Unit;
  • power of attorney issued to the head of the representative office or a copy of the document on the employee’s employment in the representative office.

The grounds for refusal to accredit the staff of the representative office are:

  • incomplete submission of documents or their execution in accordance with the established procedure;
  • incorrect information in the submitted documents.

Accreditation period. Accreditation is possible for a period from 1 to 3 years (accreditation can be extended).

Costs. Accreditation is carried out with a state fee of 48 amounts of the basic calculated value (as of the date of writing of this memorandum 1 the amount of the BCV is 340,000 soums).

  1. Termination of activity

The activity of the representative office is terminated:

  • in case the foreign commercial organization has not requested to extend the accreditation of the representative office with the expiration of the accreditation term;
  • by decision of a foreign commercial organization
  • by decision of the court;
  • in cases of violation, by decision of the body that accredited the foreign commercial organization or the representative office, of the legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan, including the conditions of accreditation or extension of the term of accreditation of the representative office;
  • by decision of the accredited body, in case of detection of cases of engaging by the authorized person in the type of activity not provided for by its provision.

Denial of accreditation. Grounds for refusal of accreditation itself or extension of the accreditation term:

  • incomplete submission of documents or their execution in accordance with the established procedure;
  • unreliable information in the submitted documents;
  • contradiction of the Regulations on the representation of the legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
  • identification by the accrediting body of information about the foreign commercial organization’s violation of the law or the authorized legislation.

If a foreign commercial organization is dissatisfied with the refusal of accreditation or extension of its term, it has the right to appeal to the court.

  1. Accreditation of foreign personnel

The staff of the Representative Office may consist of both foreign citizens and citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan. At the same time, the share of foreign citizens admitted to the Representative Office for labor activity may not exceed forty percent, but not more than five persons. Foreign nationals employed in the representative office are subject to accreditation.

Accreditation card for foreign workers of the representative office is issued for a period of twelve months with the possibility of subsequent extension or less than the established period, based on the period of accreditation of the representative office, the term of power of attorney.

  1. The application process for an accreditation certificate
1. Document title Certificate of Accreditation
2. Activity: Conducting activities of representative offices of foreign commercial organizations on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan
3. Applicant Category Foreign commercial organization
4. Accrediting Body: Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade
5. Required documents for application: 1)      Application.

The application shall contain:

·         information about the foreign commercial organization (name, country of origin, form of ownership, legal form, number of registration certificates, founders (participants), address, authorized capital, contact information, history of activity);

·         information on the activity of the foreign commercial organization (total number of its employees, type of activity, nomenclature of products (goods), volume of turnover (works, services) for the last financial year);

·         information about the management of a foreign commercial organization (full name, citizenship, contact details);

·         information about existing enterprises, representative offices, and branches;

·         prospects of development of cooperation, practical and other types of relations with enterprises and organizations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, information on contracts and transactions, execution of which is assisted by the authorized person (if any);

·         deadline for opening a representative office;

·         information about the applicant (full name, contact details).

2)      Constituent documents (charter, memorandum of association) of a foreign commercial organization.

3)      Document confirming its official registration in the country where the foreign commercial organization is located, issued by the relevant state authority (state registration certificate or extract from the trade register, trade license).

4)      Power of attorney to the head of the representative office with full indication of passport data (ID-card identification) and powers to be transferred to him\her, granted by a foreign commercial organization.

5)      Regulations approved by the management of the foreign commercial organization with the personal signature and seal of the organization (if any).
 6. Required documents for the extension of the accreditation period: 1)      Application.

The application shall specify:

·         information on the activities of a foreign commercial organization;

·         information on the management of the foreign commercial organization;

·         information about existing enterprises, representative offices, and branches;

·         prospects of development of cooperation, practical and other types of relations with enterprises and organizations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, information on contracts and transactions, execution of which is assisted by the authorized person (if any);

·         term of extension of accreditation of the representative office;

information (full name, contact details).

2)      Power of attorney (in case of overdue power of attorney previously submitted to the accrediting body), in which the foreign commercial organization presented to the head of the representative office its passport data (ID-card identification) and the powers transferred to it in full.

3)      Information on the activities of the representative office (postal address, contact details, passport details of the employees of the representative office (ID-cards of identification), results of the main foreign economic activity of the foreign commercial organization in the Republic of Uzbekistan, in particular, the flow of investments, information on signed agreements, contracts, information on local partners, information on participation in charity and sponsorship events).

4)      Copy of the lease agreement or other civil law contract confirming the right to the occupied building.
7. Amount of application fee No charge
8. Amount of state duty for certificate issuance 48 BCV (approximately USD1300)

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF CHANGES IN THE PROCEDURE OF ACCREDITATION OF REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES OF FOREIGN COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DECREES OF THE CABINET OF MINISTERS NO. 410 OF 23.10.2000 AND NO. 76 OF 07.02.2024 (the new version will enter into force on 07.05.2024)

The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 410 of 23.10.2000 The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 76 of 07.02.2024 (new version)
The terminology of the accreditation process of

representative offices of foreign

commercial organizations are given
Only the procedure for accreditation is given In addition to the accreditation procedure, there are

rights and obligations of foreign representatives

provided
More detailed procedure for accreditation of

foreign personnel
More detailed information on the process of organizing and terminating the activities of a foreign representative

office
Accrediting body: State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Investments

 

The application is submitted directly through the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade

  

Accrediting body: Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade

 

 

But: the application is submitted through the Public services centers or the Unified portal of interactive public services

 
 

Application review period: 10 working days

 

The deadline for making a decision on accreditation or refusal of accreditation: 3 working days

 5 working days

 

5 working days
The deadline for issuing the accreditation card of a foreign employee: 10 working days 5 working days