Kazakhstan needs goods from Uzbekistan and will not impose restrictive measures against them, the Ministry of Trade and Integration reported.
According to the analysis of the department, the main imported goods from Uzbekistan are vegetables, fruits, raw materials for factories. Kazakhstan is interested in their deliveries, the Ministry of Trade noted.
“The introduction of any measures in relation to these goods will have a negative effect, first of all, for Kazakhstani consumers. Accordingly, today there is no feasibility of introducing retaliatory, mirror measures based on the structure of imports from these countries,” the department explained.
They also recalled that national legislation provides for a mechanism for introducing mirror and retaliatory measures, provided that the volume of supplies from a certain country is 30% or more in the structure of imports of Kazakhstan.
Another position is adhered to in Uzbekistan. In the neighboring country, a number of restrictions have been in force or continue to apply in relation to Kazakhstan.
“Uzbekistan in mutual trade with the CIS countries, including Kazakhstan, applies the rules of origin of goods from 1993. They provide for stricter and sometimes unfulfillable criteria for sufficient processing of goods by Kazakh exporters,” the Ministry of Trade explained LS.
The department added that the 2009 rules list more flexible and usually achievable criteria for sufficient processing of goods.
Another obstacle is the unequal access of grain and flour to the Uzbek market due to the development of its own processing. From January 1, 2020, grain deliveries there are duty-free, while the duty rate for flour imports is 10%.
“Currently, the collection of customs duties on flour is suspended until December 31, 2021,” the Ministry of Trade added.
We managed to get rid of some restrictions on the part of Uzbekistan. So, until January 1, 2021, the problematic issue was the application of excise taxes. According to the Ministry of Trade, this was a deterrent to the export of Kazakhstani goods. At the same time, the measure was applied to deliveries from all countries.
“Since January 1 of this year, Uzbekistan has not applied excise taxes on imported goods. Their cancellation had a positive impact on the dynamics of trade. In January-September 2021, 87 commodity items worth $137 million were exported to Uzbekistan, which were subject to the excise tax on imports. That is, after the Uzbek side canceled the excise tax on imports, there is an increase in exports from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan of excisable goods by 72%,” the ministry said.
They added that exports to Uzbekistan are increasing due to goods such as wheat, copper ores and concentrates, semi-finished products from unalloyed steel, oil products, cattle, flat rolled products from unalloyed steel.
