Uzbekistan has significantly tightened control over the alcohol and tobacco market. In a short period, over 3,000 violations were stopped, dangerous products worth tens of billions of soums were seized, and the ISAT digital system was launched to monitor the industry in real time.
This was announced at a briefing by Dilrabo Kuryazova, press secretary of the Inspectorate for Regulation of the Alcohol and Tobacco Market. The inspectorate was established by a presidential decree on June 3, 2024, under the Department for Combating Economic Crimes.
Its task is to license the production of alcohol, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco products, and to monitor compliance with regulations. Currently, 12,700 companies operate in the sector: 2 produce tobacco, 6 produce alcohol, 36 produce alcoholic beverages, and 17 produce beer. The trade network includes 345 wholesale and over 12,000 retail enterprises.
Since its launch, 267 licensing applications have been reviewed. Licenses were issued to 9 new alcohol producers, 2 tobacco enterprises, and 44 wholesale companies. Additionally, permits were granted to open 46 warehouses.
Financial discipline is also under control: 31.3 billion soums in license fees have been collected, and 2,600 electronic meters have been sealed on production lines.
The main tool for transparency is the ISAT system. It tracks raw material and energy consumption, product movement through digital marking, license compliance, and even the routes of vehicles transporting alcohol. The system is integrated with databases of the tax authority, customs, cadastre, UzGPS, commodity exchange, as well as video surveillance and GPS trackers.
Under the Digital Uzbekistan–2030 strategy, 6.45 billion soums have been allocated for the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies into ISAT.
Simultaneously, the fight against the shadow market continues. Joint raids with the Department have stopped over 3,000 cases of illegal activity, seizing alcohol worth 76 billion soums and tobacco worth 89 billion soums, deemed hazardous to health.
License requirement checks were conducted at 29 enterprises. A hotline 71-202-86-90 is available for citizens.
The inspectorate emphasized that efforts to establish order, ensure transparency, and support entrepreneurs will continue.
Source: podrobno.uz