Glossary: freight, customs and documents
The terms that turn up on invoices, waybills and in correspondence with a carrier. One paragraph each, with the figure and the rule behind it where there is one.
Demurrage and detention
The charge for holding a container beyond the free days: demurrage while it sits in the port or terminal, detention while it is with you outside the terminal.
It accrues per day once the line’s free period ends. It arises not from the carriage but from standing still on arrival: documents not ready, customs not cleared, nowhere to unload. It grows quickly, so release and unloading times are worked out in advance rather than after the fact.
Volumetric weight
The weight a bulky consignment is charged on. The carrier takes the greater of two: actual weight or volumetric. In air freight a cubic metre counts as 167 kilograms, in road freight usually 333.
This is why a light but bulky consignment costs the same as a heavy one: padding and packaging take up space, and space is what is paid for. Measure the volume before choosing a mode rather than estimating it — the difference between 167 and 333 kilograms per cubic metre changes both the price and the answer to what is cheaper.
Freight prepaid and freight collect
The note on the waybill saying who pays the freight. Prepaid means the shipper pays before dispatch, collect means the consignee pays on arrival.
The note must match the delivery terms in the contract: under EXW and FCA the freight is usually collect, under CIF and DAP prepaid. A mismatch between waybill and contract surfaces at handover, when there is neither time nor anyone left to pay.
Incoterms
The International Chamber of Commerce rules that use one abbreviation to fix how far the seller carries the goods, who pays the carriage and where the risk passes to the buyer. The edition in force is 2020, with eleven terms.
In Uzbek foreign trade the common ones are EXW (we collect from the seller’s warehouse), FCA (the seller hands over to the carrier), FOB and CIF (sea terms, to the ship’s rail and with freight paid), DAP (to the destination, unloading excluded) and DDP (all charges on the seller). The term also affects customs value: what delivery to the border cost is part of it.
Customs value
The base on which duty, excise and VAT are calculated. It is not the invoice price but the price plus the cost of delivery to the Uzbek border: freight, insurance, loading.
The practical consequence: under EXW the customs value is higher than under DAP at the same goods price, because in the second case delivery is already inside the price. If the officer disputes the declared value, the argument is settled through conditional release.
Conditional release
The procedure that lets the cargo leave the warehouse against security while the customs value is in dispute. You have 60 calendar days to gather evidence.
The point is to keep the cargo moving: standing at a warehouse is billed by the day and often costs more than the disputed amount. Once an objection is filed, the money cannot be collected by indisputable procedure, only through a court.
Customs transit
The procedure under which uncleared cargo travels from the border to an inland post or warehouse under customs control, with no payments made en route.
It exists so the goods can be cleared where it suits the consignee rather than at the border. Moving already-cleared goods across the country usually costs more: transit runs to the destination on a single document.
BRV — the base calculation value
The unit in which customs fees and fines are set. It currently stands at 440,000 UZS (in force since 01.09.2026). The clearance fee runs on a scale from 1 to 25 BRV depending on the value of the consignment.
Rates are written into the law in BRV rather than in soum so the acts need not be rewritten at every indexation. That is why the fee itself changes as soon as the value does.
HS code
The ten-digit commodity code that everything follows from: the duty rate, excise, VAT and the list of permits. It is derived from the composition, purpose and manufacture of the goods, not from what they are called.
The rate is taken from the longest matching prefix of the code. An error in the code surfaces latest and costs most: it comes to light with the truck already at the border, and the payments are recalculated retrospectively.
Certificate of origin ST-1
The certificate of origin for goods from CIS countries. With it the import duty falls to zero; without it the ordinary rate applies, and since 28 February 2026 a surcharge for unconfirmed origin as well.
Ask the supplier for it when placing the order, not after shipment: issuing a certificate retrospectively is harder than it sounds, and by then the duty has been worked out at the full rate.
Groupage and full load
Groupage (LTL) travels alongside other consignments and you pay for the space taken. A full load (FTL) means the whole vehicle is yours: one seal from loading to unloading and a predictable transit time.
The break-even sits at roughly twelve to fifteen cubic metres: above that a whole vehicle is usually cheaper. With groupage, assembly at a consolidation warehouse before departure and deconsolidation on arrival are added to the transit.
Customs warehouse
A warehouse where uncleared goods sit under customs control for up to three years, with payments made only when the consignment is needed, in parts as it sells.
This is what distinguishes it from temporary storage, where the period is short and the regime different. It is useful when a consignment is large but sells gradually: the money for payments is not frozen in full on arrival day.
The definitions describe how these words are used in Uzbek foreign trade. Where a figure is set by law, the act is named next to it.
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