Assessment of the

8) Incorporate education and training on warehouse operations and facility 
maintenance within the plan for the ALCs.
To prevent the GoU from investing in expensive assets that do not provide a return on investment due 
to improper management, WFLO highly recommends incorporating training and education costs into the 
planning. This method could follow the “3-legged stool” method that was effective in the U.S. which 
involved academic institutions, the government and industry, or a method could be developed uniquely 
for the ALCs. WFLO has often visited countries where investments were made into the cold chain that 
lacked an educational component resulting in a facility that was either never used, used poorly and 
inefficiently, or in some cases wound up being used for a different purpose entirely. 
9) Establish a plan to access the sea to reach high-value export destinations.

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5 | ASSESSMENT OF REGIONAL AGRI-LOGISTICS CENTERS IN UZBEKISTAN USAID.GOV 
Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country, with transportation systems based on refrigerated trucks, 
railways and airways. This could present serious challenges and increase the transport costs for higher-
value export destinations, affecting the competitiveness of fruit and vegetable exporters and limiting the 
export destination to neighboring countries, the traditional markets. Transport via sea could facilitate 
export into other Asian countries (Japan, Indonesia, South Korea), the European Union, and North 
America. 
10) Establish an integrated plant protection and food safety control system. 
The accreditation, inspection, system and product certificates issued by UZstandard is not recognized 
internationally, and the accreditation body is not a member of the International Laboratory Accreditation 
Cooperation (ILAC) or International Accreditation Forum (IAF). The plant quarantine inspection services 
also lack representation with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and has limited 
capacity, inspection tools and manpower to provide documented information and dependable services. 
Finally, the newly established Sanitary Epidemiological Inspection service does not have the necessary 
manpower, knowledge, documented information and inspection tools to provide hygiene and sanitary 
inspection in wholesale stores, cold storages, pack-houses, and during transport. An integrated plant 
protection and food safety control system including maintaining traceability, the required quality and food 
safety requirements should be established. The conformity assessment services of UZstandard including 
the laboratory services should be strengthened to provide reliable and credible analytical services on 
pesticide residues, heavy metals, environmental contaminates, additives, adulterants, mycotoxins and 
microbiological contaminants; and possibly consider internationally recognized and accredited HACCP, 
food safety, and possibly GLOBALG.A.P. certifications. The inspection and certification services of the 
considerable number of international recognized inspection and certification bodies operating in 
Uzbekistan could also be utilized to support the ALCs services. The Plant Quarantine Inspection and 
Sanitary Epidemiological Inspection services should be strengthened by competent and trained manpower, 
inspection tools, laboratory equipment, infrastructures and transportation services.