Clearing gear out of Uzbekistan customs for film and TV productions.
Customs is a major headache when you produce in a country for the first time. It’s the second worst thing after getting permits.
In this post, we’ll tell you how clearing your filming equipment in and out works in Uzbekistan. This information (just like everything else in our blog) comes from our experience.
There are two ways of bringing the equipment in an out of Uzbekistan for a short period of time: the hard and the easy one. We’ll give you instructions for each of them.
Hard Way: You and Your Equipment Enter Uzbekistan Separately
Make a list of equipment. A few days before your equipment enters Uzbekistan, you must send a manifest of equipment to your local production partner. You have to write the manifest on your company’s letterhead and put a corporate seal on it. The list must contain the following information:
- Name of equipment item
- Country of origin
- Exporting country
- Cost of equipment
- Dates of import and export
Form a package of documents. Your partner in Uzbekistan adds the manifest to other mandatory documents: a filming permit and the contract with you
File the documents to the customs. The partner hands over the package of documents to the customs. He pays a toll in the amount of 0.2% of the declared value, but no less than $25.
Customs check. When your equipment arrives in Uzbekistan, it goes to a temporary storage warehouse. The authorities will be checking it for 1-10 days. It might take even longer.
Clearing the equipment out of Uzbekistan is easier:
Pay a fee. Your partner pays a service fee of 0.1% of the equipment’s declared value, but no less than $25.
Customs check. The equipment goes to a customs terminal. Law enforcement and customs specialists and local K-9 police examine it.
Then, the equipment is sealed and leaves Uzbekistan on the same day.
Easy Way: You and Your Equipment Reach Uzbekistan on Same Flight
Make a list of equipment. In a week prior to your arrival, send a manifest of equipment to your production partner. We described all the demands to this document earlier in this article
Get a permit. We write a letter to the Customs committee and get a special permit for temporary import of equipment.
That’s it. Keep in mind that you can rent the equipment in Uzbekistan. The choice is better than you might think. In the upcoming articles we’ll tell you which equipment is available in Uzbekistan. Don't hesitate, just contact us via this web-site.