Uzbekistan Customs Rules: What You Can Bring In and Take Out
Currency declaration thresholds, why anything over 50 years old generally can't leave the country, medication rules and drones. Read before you buy a carpet.
Uzbekistan's customs procedures used to be famously heavy. They have been simplified a great deal, and most visitors now walk through the green channel without speaking to anybody.
Three things still catch people out: cash over the declaration threshold, antiques bought in a bazaar, and medication. This guide covers those, with the important caveat that rules change and the authoritative sources are the Customs Committee at customs.uz, the UK FCDO entry requirements page and your own embassy, not a travel blog. The cash threshold in particular is changing in 2026, so check customs.uz and your airline before you fly (last checked: September 2026).
Money: what has to be declared
Foreign currency can be brought in without limit, but a written declaration is required above the equivalent of 100 million som, roughly US$8,000–8,500 at 2026 rates, on entry or exit. A move to a flat US$10,000 threshold was announced in August 2026, and the FCDO already quotes US$10,000. The old US$2,000 figure still repeated in some guidebooks ended in 2020 (last checked: September 2026).
Practical points:
- Declare if in doubt. Below the threshold it's voluntary, but it's free, takes a few minutes and protects you on the way out: you can't leave with more foreign cash than you declared bringing in.
- Keep your copy. The stamped form is what proves you brought the money in, which matters if you leave with a large amount.
- Taking out more than you brought in without documentation is the problem scenario. Bank and exchange receipts help.
- Local currency has its own limits on import and export, tied to the minimum wage figure, so do not plan on taking a pile of som home.
- Declaration covers more than notes: travellers' cheques and certain monetary instruments count too.
Most travellers never come close to the threshold, since ATMs work and cards are accepted for larger bills; our money guide covers the day-to-day side.
Antiques, carpets and cultural property
This is the rule that surprises people, and it is the one worth taking seriously.
Under law ZRU-1160 of 23 July 2026, items more than fifty years old count as cultural valuables and generally cannot be exported at all. For modern pieces, you need the shop receipt, and for carpets and anything that looks old, a certificate or expert conclusion issued through the Agency of Cultural Heritage (not the Ministry of Culture, which older sources name). That covers carpets, suzani, jewellery, manuscripts, coins, ceramics, musical instruments, religious objects and paintings (last checked: September 2026).
Mass-produced modern souvenirs and machine-made textiles are not restricted. The grey area is the handmade modern piece that looks old, and the genuinely old piece sold to you as modern.
What to do:
- Buy from shops that issue the paperwork. Ask for the receipt and, for carpets or old-looking pieces, the certificate or expert conclusion before you pay.
- Keep the receipt with the item's description and date, and carry it with the piece.
- Be sceptical of "genuine antique" claims at bazaar prices. Either the claim is false, which means you are overpaying, or it is true, which means you have an export problem.
- Budget time. An assessment is not something to arrange on the morning of your flight.
- Declare it at the airport rather than hoping. Confiscation and a fine is the downside.
Our suzani guide and carpet guide both cover the buying side, and the short version is that modern hand-made work is the sensible purchase for almost everyone.
Medication
Uzbekistan controls a broader range of medicines than many countries, and some drugs that are routine at home are restricted here, particularly strong painkillers, sedatives, psychiatric medication and anything containing codeine.
The safe approach:
Carry medicines in their original packaging with the pharmacy label. Bring a doctor's letter or a copy of the prescription, ideally translated into Russian, listing the drug, the dose and the condition. Bring only the quantity you need for the trip plus a small margin. Declare anything controlled rather than assuming nobody will look.
Check the current list with an Uzbek embassy or consulate before travelling if you take anything in these categories. Our health guide covers pharmacies and medical care once you are in the country.
How the antique assessment works
Since this is the rule that most often turns into a problem at the airport, it is worth knowing what the process actually involves.
An item you want to export is examined by an expert acting for the Agency of Cultural Heritage, who assesses its age and whether it counts as a cultural valuable. If it's modern, you get a certificate or expert conclusion saying so, which is what you show at customs. If it's more than fifty years old, it generally can't leave the country, and no amount of paperwork changes that.
Established shops in Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent deal with this routinely and will organise it for you; allow a few days. Bazaar sellers generally won't, which is a practical reason to buy anything substantial from a shop rather than a stall.
Where visitors go wrong is buying an appealing old-looking piece on the last afternoon of a trip. Either you leave without it, or you gamble at the airport. If you want a new piece made in an old style, buy it early in your trip and let the seller get the certificate while you travel on.
It is also worth knowing why the rule exists. Central Asian antiquities have been trafficked steadily for decades, and several countries, including the United States, have imposed import restrictions on Uzbek archaeological and ethnological material. The controls are not a bureaucratic relic; they are an active heritage-protection measure.
Which crafts need a certificate, and what the assessment costs
The detail sits in the export regulation, Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 131 of 1999, which is still the operating rulebook under the amended law (both on lex.uz, in Russian and Uzbek). Its list of modern items, made within the last fifty years, that need no export certificate is longer than most visitors assume. It includes:
- carpets, carpet products, embroidery and suzani, but only if they are machine-made
- hand-woven flat-weaves (palas) and felt pieces
- hand-woven silk and cotton cloth such as atlas and adras ikat
- gold embroidery, and small hand embroideries up to 50 by 50 cm
- chapan robes, doppi skullcaps and other national dress
- ceramics up to 40 cm, souvenir knives, and national musical instruments
- modern hallmarked gold and silver jewellery
Read the gaps as carefully as the list. A hand-knotted pile carpet is not on it, and nor is a full-size hand-embroidered suzani. Those are the pieces where you want the expert conclusion, however new the seller says they are. The law also bars export of anything on a state protection list or held in a museum collection, whatever its age.
The assessment fee is set as a share of the base calculation value (BCV), which is 440,000 som from 1 September 2026. The regulation’s tariff gives 70 to 100% of the BCV for a carpet, 30 to 50% for a suzani, and 5% for the certificate itself. In som, that works out at roughly 308,000 to 440,000 for a carpet and 132,000 to 220,000 for a suzani, plus 22,000 for the certificate (last checked: October 2026). The fee is charged in full even if the expert decides the piece can’t leave. A good shop builds this into the price or tells you upfront; ask which before you agree a number. Since the law itself was amended in July 2026, the regulation may be revised too, so treat these figures as the current text rather than a promise.
Other restrictions
| Item | Position |
|---|---|
| Drones | Import and use largely prohibited (FCDO); a licence is needed. Don't bring one on spec |
| Satellite phones and radio equipment | Restricted; prior permission needed |
| Alcohol and tobacco | Personal allowances apply, as elsewhere |
| Printed and recorded material | Material judged extremist or pornographic is prohibited |
| Weapons, ammunition, drugs | Prohibited, with serious penalties |
| Plants, seeds, raw animal products | Subject to quarantine rules in both directions |
| Fresh fruit out of the country | Usually restricted by the destination country rather than Uzbekistan; dried fruit is fine |
Photography restrictions are not a customs matter but belong in the same mental category: do not photograph military installations, border facilities, the Afghan frontier at Termez, or inside metro stations where signs prohibit it.
At the airport
Arrival is usually quick: passport control, baggage, and a green or red channel. Take the red channel if you are carrying cash above the threshold or anything restricted.
Departure involves security screening before check-in as well as after, which surprises people and means arriving early. Antiques, large textiles and musical instruments may be looked at; have your paperwork accessible rather than buried in a bag.
Registration slips from hotels, which used to be checked rigorously, are no longer the ordeal they were, but keeping them costs nothing. Our Tashkent airport guide covers arrival and departure procedures in detail, and our visa guide covers entry requirements.
What you can safely buy and take
Rather than a list of prohibitions, here is the positive version: the things visitors buy most, none of which cause any trouble at the airport.
Modern hand-made textiles. Suzani, ikat fabric, scarves and cushion covers made recently. Light, flat and unrestricted.
Ceramics. Rishtan and Gijduvan plates and bowls from working workshops. Wrap them well and put them in hand luggage.
Dried fruit, nuts and spices. Excellent value and generally permitted, though your own country's import rules apply, so check before buying five kilos of apricots.
Doppi caps, knives and metalwork. Note that knives go in checked luggage, not hand luggage, which is obvious and still catches people out at security.
Paper from the Samarkand mill, silk, tea, and small musical instruments of modern make.
Our carpet and textile guide covers prices and quality for the bigger purchases.
Posting purchases home
Shipping is the answer to a rug that won’t fit in a suitcase, but it doesn’t get around the export rules. A parcel goes through customs like a bag does, so the receipt and, for a carpet or full-size suzani, the expert conclusion need to travel with it. The simplest route is to let an established workshop ship for you: it already handles the paperwork, and the item is never in your hands at the airport.
If you ship yourself, there are two options. The national postal operator, O’zbekiston pochtasi (Uzbekistan Post), sends international parcels. We couldn’t find a current foreign-parcel tariff published in a form we could check, so get the price at the counter and ask for a tracked service. International couriers are easier to price. A Tashkent agent for Aramex publishes its 2026 price list in som (last checked: October 2026):
| Destination | Parcel up to 0.5 kg | Each extra 0.5 kg | Example: 4 kg rolled rug |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK, Germany, France | 1,200,000 som | 200,000 som | about 2.6 million som (~$220) |
| USA | 1,325,000 som | 205,000 som | about 2.76 million som (~$234) |
| Australia | 1,400,000 som | 220,000 som | about 2.94 million som (~$249) |
Dollar figures use roughly 11,800 som to the dollar. Courier prices can also depend on the size of the box as well as its weight, so ask for a quote on the packed parcel.
A few things can’t go by post at all. The export regulation says items made of precious metals and stones may not be sent in postal, cargo or container shipments; permitted jewellery has to be carried out by its owner. Anything over fifty years old can’t leave by any route. And the parcel will meet your own country’s customs on arrival, where import duty or VAT on a carpet may be due. Check that before you pay for both the rug and the shipping.
Registration, and why people still worry about it
Older guidebooks devote pages to registration slips, and it is worth explaining what changed.
Foreign visitors staying in Uzbekistan must be registered at their place of stay within a few days of arrival. Hotels and licensed guesthouses do this automatically and hand you a small slip for each night; there is nothing for you to do beyond keeping them.
Historically, missing slips could mean fines or a difficult conversation on departure, which is why the subject looms so large in old accounts. Enforcement has relaxed considerably and departing travellers are rarely asked for the full set now.
The complication arises if you stay somewhere unregistered: with friends, in a homestay that is not licensed, or camping in the desert for several nights. The current system allows online registration for such stays, and a good tour operator will handle it. If you are travelling independently and sleeping outside the hotel system, ask a local contact how to register rather than assuming nobody cares.
Keep the slips in your passport. They weigh nothing, and the one time an official asks, you will be glad to have them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to declare my cash?
A written declaration is required above the equivalent of 100 million som (roughly US$8,000–8,500), and a flat US$10,000 threshold has been announced, so check customs.uz before you travel. Below that it's voluntary, but worth doing if you might leave with a lot of foreign cash, because you can't take out more than you declared bringing in. Keep the stamped copy.
Can I take a carpet or suzani home?
Modern pieces, yes: keep the receipt, and for carpets or anything that looks old, get the certificate or expert conclusion issued through the Agency of Cultural Heritage. Anything over fifty years old generally can't be exported at all. Ask the seller to arrange the paperwork before you pay.
Are drones allowed?
Treat the answer as no unless you have obtained written permission in advance. Drones are regularly confiscated at the airport, and flying one near monuments, government buildings or borders will cause you real problems.
Can I post a carpet home instead of carrying it?
Yes, and many workshops will ship it for you. The export rules still apply: send the receipt and, for a hand-knotted carpet, the expert conclusion with the parcel. A Tashkent Aramex agent’s 2026 rates put a 4 kg rug to the UK or USA at roughly $220 to $235. Jewellery made of precious metal can’t be posted; carry it out yourself.
What about my prescription medication?
Bring it in original packaging with a doctor's letter, preferably translated into Russian, and only in the quantity you need. Check in advance with an Uzbek embassy if you take controlled drugs such as strong painkillers or psychiatric medication.
Are customs officials difficult?
Far less so than the country's old reputation suggests. Procedures have been simplified and most visitors pass through quickly. Being polite, declaring what should be declared and having paperwork for anything unusual resolves nearly every situation.