Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Within the framework of the project "Support for economic reforms and sustainable economic development in the regions of Uzbekistan" in order to develop cooperatives in the agricultural sector, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) are developing a draft Law "On Agricultural cooperative."

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan held a meeting with the participation of specialists dedicated to the final discussion of this bill. It expressed the advantages of the draft law and opinions on the ongoing work.

Previous version of the Law, the law "On cooperation" was adopted in 1991.

The bill was not compatible with modern production. It mainly contains articles on general cooperatives and does not include specific articles on agriculture.

As a result of the reforms being carried out in our country, market mechanisms are being introduced, an environment of free competition is being formed, clusters, farms and cooperatives are functioning at the same time.

In recent years, small businesses have appeared in agriculture. They form cooperatives. This requires the creation of the necessary organizational and legal framework for them. In recent years, cooperation relations between manufacturers have been developing more and more. This has become a kind of incentive for the development of a new bill with the study of best practices and legislation of foreign countries in relation to cooperatives.

The bill was developed jointly with three experts from the German Federal Office of Agriculture. They have many years of experience in cooperatives. Separately, it should be noted the active participation in this process of local specialists, scientists from scientific institutions of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan. During the development of this draft law, the working group directly cooperated with cooperatives, landowners, and farmers. An important point is that when the bill was adopted, surveys were conducted among more than 700 farmers of our republic. The reasons why cooperatives do not develop were studied in the course of surveys and analyzed with foreign experts.

Solutions to these issues are reflected in the bill.

In 2021, a working group of the ministry developed a preliminary bill. It consisted of 9 chapters and 48 articles. In the new project, according to experts, the interests of manufacturers should be further consolidated, and the experience of foreign countries should be analyzed. Based on this, a new draft law "On Agricultural Cooperatives" was revised, consisting of 11 chapters and 60 articles.

The law is set out in simple and understandable language for producers, in particular, the owner of household land, a farmer, a dekhkan. It clearly and in detail describes issues from the organizational structure of the cooperative to its financial situation, audit, relations between the state and the cooperative, management structures and other issues.

The discussion of the drafters of the bill has already taken place. Now online discussions will be held in the bodies of the ministry and relevant departments. The process will be covered through the Telegram channel of the working group.

The presence of a legal framework in cooperatives contributes to the further development of a competitive environment in agriculture. More than 800 agro-industrial clusters operate in agriculture. The bill clarifies specific articles on the organization of the work of cooperatives consisting of farmers and clusters.

In the future, the clusters will work in cooperation with these cooperatives.

This bill aims to increase the income of small farms by merging them into one cooperative. Cooperatives are independent, voluntary management, where there is no intervention of the state or local governments. At the same time, leaders are appointed from among the members of the cooperative, managers-managers are hired. They manage the cooperative themselves. Cooperatives care for and protect the interests of their members. The farmer, who is an independent and voluntary member of the cooperative, receives his share of the final income. In a cooperative, members earn a profit - a common income. Get a share from her.

The bill is based on the following internationally recognized principles:

Voluntary and open membership;

Democratic control by members;

Economic participation of members;

Autonomy and independence;

Education, training and information;

Cooperation between cooperatives;

Caring for society.

The bill will be discussed and submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval by 1 February 2023.