price penalty particularly harms smallholders, who own 94 percent of the livestock herd. In response, 170. Silk clusters procured raw silk below market price, in 2021-23, again penalizing farmers. Farmers sell silk cocoons to these clusters at 25,000 prices, primarily meat, with potential welfare implica- UZS per kilogram, but the market price should range tions for Uzbekistan's entire population. between 40,000 and 50,000 UzS per kilogram in 169. When the export restriction was introduced, subsidies and social protection measures. This 0.06-0.o7 percent of GDP). Although the govern- ment provides silk cocoon subsidies of UzS 5,000 per kilogram, this only offsets one-fifth of the fiscal support to support them, at the expense of producer price loss. Other support mechanisms are taxpayers. Compounded by other negative factors, such as the rising cost of living in 2021-22, this also in place, such as a reduced land tax for mulberry policy-free and perfectly competitive market scenario. 171. It would be more effective and efficient to 173. In early 2024, ad hoc export bans on poultry liberalize the sector, eliminate the monopolistic eggs severely harmed the poultry subsector. Egg control of silk clusters over silk cocoons, and cocoon production. Such an approach might also address potential conflicts in WTO accession, as all producers. Meanwhile, the subsidy for each egg and should be avoided. The government has issued produced, only UzS 50, is available only to the largest producers. The government provided the subsidy as output support to large producers, but this compen- market-based relations, but it has not yet estab- 172. Even though Uzbekistan has embraced trade 174. The Government is planning to replace export to the WTo,61 it has placed export restrictions on bans with export custom duties from July 1, 2025. other food and agricultural products since 2022. oil, including cottonseed and sunflower oil, as well benefit of individual companies. However, custom oilseeds, with certain exceptions established by duties could be prohibitively high in some cases, law. The ban was also extended to corn, soybean especially for raw commodities, and act as a de facto ban on exports. Their effect should be carefully oils, potatoes, corn, and sugar. In January 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture limited the export of onions.62