The government of Uzbekistan is revising the rules for outdoor advertising in favor of entrepreneurs. The Competition Committee released a draft regulation “On the Regulation of Outdoor Inscriptions” for public discussion on April 25, and on May 6 called on business owners to actively participate in the debate.
The draft aims to clarify processes and definitions that have caused confusion and legal gaps in practice. Specifically, it provides clear definitions for terms such as “outdoor information medium,” “outdoor inscription,” “information sign,” “signboard,” “announcement,” and “information board.”
“Outdoor information media” and “outdoor inscriptions” are defined as means directed at the external environment without commercial purpose, i.e., they are not advertising in nature. However, it is prohibited to install or use such media to display information or images of an advertising or commercial nature.
Signboards are defined as information about the classification of activities (organization name, specialization) at retail, catering, and service establishments (e.g., pharmacy, barbershop, shoe repair, national cuisine, supermarket, hospital, groceries, construction and household goods). Such signboards are not considered outdoor advertising objects, and no advertising space passport is required for their installation.
In other words, information placed on the outside of a building occupied by a business entity, at the entrance to the building, about itself and its type of activity (specialization), or information about the entrepreneur’s products displayed in the window of the same building (signboard), is not considered advertising. No permits or fees are required for its placement.
The public discussion of the draft began on April 25 and will last until May 10. The Competition Committee urged business entities to actively participate in the discussion, sharing their opinions, comments, and suggestions.
Notably, a campaign in Tashkent to mass-remove business signboards had sparked protests among entrepreneurs. At a meeting with the president on May 5, this issue was raised, and a decision was made to abolish the practice of classifying signboards as advertising and the procedure for obtaining a passport for them.
Source: kun.uz