Implementation of this initial project was envisaged by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated November 24, 2018 "On additional measures to improve the customs administration and increase the effectiveness of the activities of the State Customs Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan" PD-5582

During the short period of time, the State Customs Committee carried out appropriate organizational and legal work.  Front offices were provided with special offices, computer equipment and other necessary items.  At the initial stage, about 60 front office employees were selected from among hundreds of candidates.

It should be noted that the experience of countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Belarus was thoroughly studied in the process of launching this project.

So what is the front office?

"Front office" is a group of individuals providing services on free basis for replenishment of customs freight declaration to participants of foreign economic activity, acting on the basis of civil-law agreement with territorial customs authorities.

Front office employees are mainly engaged in filling of the customs cargo declaration on the basis of the petition of an entrepreneur and introducing the requirements of the customs legislation within the scope of its competence.

In this process, they also have the right to enter the customs control zone, to get advice and information from customs officials on customs issues.

Simply put, the entrepreneur should apply directly to "front-office" employees to fill in the customs cargo declaration, and provide the necessary documents in this process, as well as the information on commodity codes and customs value.

In this case the front-office employee fills the declaration in the electronic program. Then the entrepreneur submits the declaration to the customs authorities through the appropriate information system, with his / her electronic digital signature.

However, before July 1, 2018, customs declarations only had to be filled out and presented to customs authorities by customs clearance specialists who have the appropriate qualification certificate. This meant that entrepreneurs had to resort to customs brokerage and spend too little.

From July 1, 2018, entrepreneurs were also allowed to fill in the customs declaration and submit them to the Customs authorities independently. However, not all entrepreneurs have the same capacity in using this given opportunity, in this case, the front offices are very important for foreign economic activity participants and business representatives.

In order to further increase the quality of services provided by Front-office employees, it is also envisaged to improve their training at the Customs Institute for a month.

Responsibility for the accuracy of the information and documents provided for the completion of the customs freight declaration within the original project is assigned to the foreign economic activity participant. Based on the results of the project, it is envisaged to be implemented in other regional customs offices later.

The government's financing of the front office activities is another example of care and attention to our entrepreneurs.