Kazakhstan confirms the launch of an online control system for the movement of goods from April

From April 1, Kazakhstan really launches the mandatory issuance of shipping invoices for goods in electronic form and tracking the movement of goods in the EAEU space (Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) using electronic seals (EDS). This was confirmed to Vedomosti on March 27 by a representative of the Ministry of Finance of the republic.

As the interlocutor of Vedomosti explained, invoices will be issued electronically before crossing the border. This, they emphasize in the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan, “excludes the possibility of drawing up documents for nominees, fictitious recipients and senders of goods, bankrupts, liquidated persons.” “Thus, the system being implemented makes it possible to automate the process of controlling the movement of goods across the border,” the agency’s representative said in a response to Vedomosti.

The Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan added that the implementation of the system is carried out in mutual trade with the EAEU countries “to reduce the shadow turnover and eliminate tax losses (VAT)”. The system, explained in department, worked “since December, 2020 on a voluntary basis”. Prior to this, on March 24, the Russian Ministry of Transport told Vedomosti that information about the launch of an online goods tracking system by Kazakhstan is associated with an agreement on electronic navigation seals (ENP), signed in December 2021 and ratified in October 2022.

However, on March 24, Eurasianet.org and the Financial Times, citing sources in the Kazakh government, reported that the country was launching an online system from April 1 to track goods crossing its borders. According to the portal and the British newspaper, this was done “to demonstrate compliance with Western sanctions against Russia and sanctioned parallel imports.”

Logistics companies did not officially comment on the statement of the Kazakh side, noting that they are skeptical about the explanations of the Russian Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.

A Vedomosti source close to the ENP project recalled that Russia and Belarus have already begun a joint experiment to track timber exported from Belarus to third countries through Russia using electronic navigation seals. The launch of the pilot project was already announced in the press service of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan on February 3, and the day before, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a corresponding decree. The experiment will last until June 1, 2023. The interlocutor said that he had communicated with representatives of the Russian Ministry of Transport on the issue of the Kazakh tracking system, but they could neither confirm nor deny that electronic document management was related to the sealing project.