![A customer shops in Taraz last May. Kazakhstan has tightened phyto-sanitary regulations on imported Russian fruits and vegetables. [Aydar Ashimov]](/cnmi_ca/images/2020/03/10/22898-1-739_416.webp)
NUR-SULTAN -- Russian fruits and vegetables meant for Kazakhstan are not meeting Kazakh food safety rules in numerous instances, AKIpress reported Monday (March 9), citing the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry.
Since the beginning of the year, Kazakh authorities inspecting Russian produce headed to Kazakhstan have found 293 violations of phyto-sanitary regulations, according to the ministry.
Tighter inspections of Russian produce date back to 2019 and are not linked to the threat of the coronavirus, added the ministry, saying it is striving to prevent the entry of agricultural pests.
"Thirty-two phyto-sanitary checkpoints were established near the border with Russia last year to disclose [food safety] violations in the import of food," the ministry said.
Kazakhstan fined the violators 10 million KZT ($26,100), it added.
Warnings about Russian protectionism
The news comes as Kazakhstan bridles at Kremlin policies that it says have hurt its economy.
Earlier in 2020, Kazakhstan announced plans to introduce protectionist measures in response to Russian policies and to unfair practices of the Russian-dominated Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
The EEU has enabled Russian firms to conquer the Kazakh market while regularly impeding Kazakh firms from selling anything in Russia, Kazakh economists and business leaders have pointed out.
Nur-Sultan developed its trade policy planning statement while taking into account "the practice of other states in protecting domestic markets".
That new assertiveness is an apparent response to Russia's hostile actions, say observers.
Russia is using non-market mechanisms and its regulatory agencies to "eliminate competitors", said observers in Kazakhstan in February.
Denis Krivosheyev, an Almaty-based economic analyst, supports Kazakhstan's emerging policy of a "reciprocal" response to hostile actions within the EEU.
"We have retreated for a very long time, often not understanding how protectionist policies are formed," he said.
"The elimination of internal barriers and restrictions and the erection of more complex, less apparent ones -- these are the real trade wars that not only the consumer but also the manufacturer must win," he added.
Russia is getting freaking brazen, goddammit
Reply6 Comment(s)
It was funny reading Kazakh economists... Are there any economists in the country, really? It's basic trickery to fool bumpkins, and you don't have to be too brainy [to do so], my dear bumpkins. Ай-яй,уят типти айтуга [not in Russian]. The demand is urgently leaving this shitty union! есин барда-шык! [not in Russian] We demand! We demand! Leaving this union before the country totally collapses...
ReplyA Fourth Reich needs to be created :)))
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Guys, let's live in harmony!
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Of course, all the people of Kazakhstan are for consuming what we produce ourselves; we trust our state. Our lands are boundless; we need to increase agriculture and livestock breeding. We can also supply our grain to many countries.
ReplyI disagree with the last [argument]; [we would need it] to provide for ourselves. Dozens of lorries drive into Uralsk daily, each with 30 tons of wheat, corn, etc. Means, we don't have that although Uralsk is one of the most agriculturally advanced regions of the COUNTRY
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