Bishkek, Feb.13, 2020. /Kabar/. The World Trade Organization's (WTO) Committee on Trade Facilitation considered Kazakhstan's trade restriction on transit goods from Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy said.
Since March 2019, significant delays in the movement of transit goods coming from Kyrgyzstan through Kazakhstan have existed in the territory of Kazakhstan due to tighter checks by the Kazakh authorities.
"In order to take all necessary measures to resolve the current difficult situation at the border, the Kyrgyz Republic throughout 2019 was sending official written appeals to the Republic of Kazakhstan, and was holding bilateral consultations at the WTO site, where the Kyrgyz side familiarized the Kazakh side with the critical situation of mass congestion of vehicles with the call to eliminate the applied trade barriers and act within the framework of the rules, established by the WTO," the statement runs.
In view of the lack of any signs of improvement in the situation at the border, despite the efforts of Kyrgyzstan, on Feb.11, 2020, Deputy Minister of Economy Eldar Alisherov and Head of the Ministry of Economy's office on WTO Affairs Nurbek Maksutov attended a meeting of the WTO Committee on Trade Facilitation in Geneva, Switzerland.
"The Kyrgyz Republic informed the WTO members about violations and non-compliance with international trade rules by the Republic of Kazakhstan, expressed in the form of tighter measures on the passage of goods transport, cargo inspection and difficulties in passing transit goods through the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic," the report says.
"In its speech, the Kyrgyz Republic voiced the illegal actions of representatives of the inspection bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and described in detail the difficulties encountered by Kyrgyz cargo carriers in connection with the increased inspections of cargo at the checkpoints when crossing the territory of Kazakhstan.
It was brought to the attention of the Committee members that Kazakhstan's actions had led to a congestion of freight transport up to 10 kilometers long, and the number of trucks idling at the border and in specialized areas was about 250.
The actions of Kazakhstan cause irreparable damage to the trade relations of Kyrgyzstan with third countries, as well as to every freight carrier of the Kyrgyz Republic without exception.
As a result of the speech, the Kyrgyz Republic cited the articles of the key WTO agreements, and called on the Republic of Kazakhstan to strictly fulfill its commitments to the WTO and act in the spirit of the agreements of the organization, and demanded the immediate removal of hidden trade barriers and the provision of unhindered transit routes for Kyrgyz cargo carriers," the report says.
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