Kazakhstan received a mechanism to restrict the transit of goods to Russia

Kazakhstan received a mechanism to restrict the transit of goods to Russia



Information about the launch by Kazakhstan from April 1, 2023 of an online tracking system for the movement of goods is related to the implementation of an agreement on electronic navigation seals (ENB) for monitoring transportation in the EAEU space (Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan). This was reported to Vedomosti by a representative of the Russian Ministry of Transport.

He recalled that the relevant document was signed in December 2021 and ratified in October 2022.

It follows from the text of the agreement that the installation of the ENB will be carried out during the railway or road transportation of alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, goods that are prohibited from being imported into the territory of at least one EAEU member state, as well as during the transit of goods through the territory of the union.

The document specifies that each country "should choose its own national operator" responsible for the operation of the ENB and the movement of goods. In the future, all national information systems for working with the ENB of the EAEU member countries will be integrated with each other.

Vedomosti sent a request to the Russian operator, the Center for the Development of Digital Platforms (TsRTsP).

Earlier on March 24, Eurasianet.org, citing a source in the Kazakh government, reported that the country was launching an online system from April 1 to track goods crossing the country's borders. According to the portal, this was done "to demonstrate compliance with Western sanctions against Russia and sanctioned parallel imports."

This information was later confirmed by a senior source of the Financial Times. An interlocutor of the British newspaper in the Kazakh government noted that the new system will allow tracking "the entire chain of movement of goods across the border of the republic in real time."

According to the interlocutor of Vedomosti in a large transport company, it is assumed that the national operator will be responsible for the transportation of goods throughout the route, and not just on the territory of their own country. That is, if the transportation began on the territory of Belarus and it was there that the ENBs were installed, then the national operator of the country will track the cargo using the device until it arrives at its destination or the vehicle leaves the EAEU, he explained.

According to Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline Analytics, the use of seals will not change the situation with the transportation of sanctioned goods and parallel imports. Navigation seals make it possible to identify the facts of access to transit cargo and provide tracking of their location, added Pavel Ivankin, President of the Transportation and Infrastructure Research Center. According to him, the use of navigation seals "practically does not affect the cost of transportation."

The press services of the customs, the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan told Vedomosti that the departments were “not aware” of the start of the electronic cargo tracking system next month and advised them to contact the Republican Ministry of Finance (Vedomosti sent a request there).

The system of importing goods into the territory of Russia without the consent of its right holder (parallel import) was launched by Russia in March 2022 after the imposition of Western sanctions due to the SVO in Ukraine. As part of the sanctions, manufacturers from the US, UK, EU countries and other countries were banned from selling a wide range of goods to Russia - from high-tech products (engines, auto parts, microelectronics) to household appliances. Goods on the border of Kazakhstan and Russia, members of the EAEU, according to the agreement on economic union, are now moving without customs control.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov on the afternoon of March 24 did not confirm, but did not deny to journalists the awareness of the launch by Kazakhstan of an online system for tracking goods and its possible connection with restrictions on parallel imports to Russia. Peskov acknowledged that Astana, which has not officially joined the anti-Russian sanctions, is “under pressure” from Western states. He added that Russia and Kazakhstan are allies and "great friends."

In early March, at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum, Nurlan Kulbatyrov, Deputy Director General of the Kazakh Trade Policy Development Center QazTrade, reported that in 2022 the volume of exports from Kazakhstan to Russia increased by 25% and reached $8.8 billion. In November 2022, the Federal Customs Service ( The Federal Customs Service of Russia reported that over 8 months of last year, the volume of cars imported from Kazakhstan to Russia increased 15 times and amounted to more than 6,500 units.

The U.S. Treasury's sanctions compliance guidelines state that Western exporters "are responsible for ensuring that goods subject to sanctions do not enter Russia through third countries." In a study published at the end of February 2023, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) reported that EU countries increased exports to countries neighboring Russia while reducing exports directly to Russia. The EBRD associated this trend with the re-export of sanctioned goods through third countries.

Kazakhstan is not the first country that can create difficulties for parallel imports to Russia. In early March, Vedomosti told how Turkey stopped the transit of sanctioned cargo going through its territory to the Russian Federation. Interlocutors in logistics companies then said that Turkish customs officers block goods for Russia in special warehouses if they got there from a country that imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation. Blocking also occurred if the cargo itself is prohibited for delivery to Russia.

The agreement on electronic seals in the EAEU does exist, but the reaction time, in particular, the lag from the ratification of the document to the creation of the Kazakhstani system at this very moment “raises questions,” says Stanislav Pritchin, senior researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at IMEMO RAS. The position of Kazakhstan is ambivalent, the expert notes. At the same time, the country is trying to form the most transparent picture for the West of interaction with Russia in the field of financial transactions, but, on the other hand, parallel imports are beneficial for the Kazakh government and companies, and they are unlikely to refuse it, Pritchin believes.

While there are no official explanations from Astana, the launch of a goods tracking system can mean two different phenomena, Alexander Ispolinov, Doctor of Law, an expert in international economic law, explained to Vedomosti.

Either this is the implementation of an agreement on the use of electronic seals in the EAEU, or, indeed, the beginning of control of parallel imports and the actual implementation of US and EU sanctions against Russia. In the first case, the legal basis for the functioning of the EAEU is not questioned, while in the second case, we are talking about a violation of one of the basic principles of the common market - the freedom of movement of goods within the borders of the union, the lawyer notes.

But at the same time, in the second case, Kazakhstan has legal loopholes, notes Giant. Art. 29 of the Treaty on the EAEU provides for six exceptions that states can resort to in order to limit the basic freedoms of the common market. These include “fulfillment of international obligations”, which can be subject to EU and US sanctions, as well as “ensuring the defense and security of the country”, which Kazakhstan can refer to in order not to be accused of covert discrimination against another member of the EEU, the lawyer says.

Astana must notify, according to the regulations, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) of the decision to launch the relevant system. Russia, if we are really talking about restrictions on the movement of goods, may begin to challenge the introduced measures as hidden restrictions in the court of the EAEU, Ispolinov concludes. But Moscow could well make a political decision not to take action that would publicize this turn of events, the lawyer admits.

Anastasia Boyko and Anna Karavanova took part in the preparation of the article



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