National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan

For reference: in January of this year, a national eco-labeling system was introduced by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers. In June, a new regulation was adopted prioritizing  eco-labeled goods and services in "green" public procurement. This represents a unique experience for the region, based on the world’s best practices.

During the roundtable, the Director of the State Center for Environmental Certification and Standardization, Nodirjon Yunusov, emphasized that green procurement drives the development of the eco-friendly product market. In turn, this increases demand for such products and helps introduce market-based mechanisms to reduce the negative environmental impact of production processes.

The main focus of the discussion was on improving the organization of procurement processes for eco-labeled goods during import and export operations involving economic entities. Procurement agencies and producers discussed the future development of the green procurement project.

The roundtable also addressed practical issues related to environmental certification—how it is conducted, how to prepare for it, which types of certificates are recognized by public buyers, how many points they are awarded and what measures can be taken to facilitate certification for business representatives.

Based on the proposals of business participants, a set of priority tasks and follow-up actions were identified to ensure the effective implementation of green procurement initiatives moving forward.