The Creation of the Legal Foundation of the Customs System in Uzbekistan During the Years of Independence

The article examines, from a historical and legal perspective, the formation and development of the legal foundation of the customs system of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the period following the attainment of state independence (1991–2025). The study is based on the periodization and comparative analysis of laws, decrees and resolutions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers, and departmental normative-legal acts published on the lex.uz National Database of Legal Information and the National Database of Legislation. The author distinguishes six stages in the formation of customs legislation and reveals the key documents of each stage in chronological order. The findings show that the legal basis of customs affairs was consistently refined — from an organizational-normative foundation (1991) to a fully codified system (1997, 2016) and to a stage of digital and institutional reforms (2017–2025).