CIVIL-LAW PROTECTION OF GREEN BIOTECHNOLOGY IN UZBEKISTAN

Green biotechnology is central to Uzbekistan’s agricultural modernisation agenda, yet the civil-law framework governing it remains fragmented and internally inconsistent. This article examines Uzbekistan’s existing legislation — including the Civil Code, the Law on Selection Achievements, the Law on Organic Products (2022), and relevant presidential decrees — and identifies four structural problems. First, the absence of dedicated biotechnology legislation forces reliance on general civil-law rules not designed for self-replicating biological subject matter. Second, a direct conflict exists between Presidential Decree PQ-4899 (2020), which promotes genetic engineering, and the Law on Organic Products, which prohibits GMO use in organic production, with no mechanism to allocate liability where transgenic gene flow damages certified organic farms. Third, gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 fall outside current patentability criteria, creating investment uncertainty. Fourth, mandatory GMO labelling is absent. Drawing on comparative analysis of EU, U.S., and other countries, the article proposes a comprehensive Biotechnology Act, a strict-liability regime for transgenic contamination, mandatory environmental insurance, and GMO labelling rules.

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