As a core part of its new national sustainable development strategy, Kyrgyzstan will use UNECE recommendations as the basis for removing regulatory and procedural barriers to trade.
The Government expects that these, summarized in the study “Regulatory and Procedural Barriers to Trade in Kyrgyzstan”, will help it achieve its sustainable development targets associated with export promotion.
The implementation of these recommendations will be guided by the Governmental Plan for Export Development of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2015 – 2017. This plan sets priority for the:
- simplification of procedures for exporters;
- improvement of quality control and quality management;
- access to trade information and export promotion;
- trade finance.
UNECE recommendations are particularly important in the first three areas.
Kyrgyzstan will have to mobilize financial resources for the implementation of these recommendations, said Deputy Minister of Economy of Kyrgyzstan Kylychbek Djakypov. With support from UNECE, the Government has developed a prioritized action plan, which will be integrated into Kyrgyzstan’s United Nations Development Action Framework (UNDAF) and used as a basis for developing a national Aid-for-Trade (AfT) plan. UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach congratulated the Government of Kyrgyzstan for this accomplishment. He added that UNECE will work closely with the Government to develop multi-agency technical assistance projects for implementing the recommendations.
The Study’s recommendations, which were developed in consultation with public and private sector stakeholders in the country, address both immediate and long-term priority needs in the areas of trade facilitation, technical regulation, quality assurance and metrology. They call for practical, action-oriented measures, which build on international best practices and UNECE recommendations, norms, standards and guidelines in the areas of trade facilitation and regulatory cooperation.
The recommendations support the successful implementation of, among others, the following reform measures:
- Improving State agencies’ information dissemination function
- Consolidating the Single Window Information System platform
- Promoting wider use of electronic documents by traders
- Addressing challenges related to transit trade
- Improving the quality and range of logistical services available to traders
- Improving SPS control measures
- Harmonizing and simplifying cross-border transport procedures and documentation between Kyrgyzstan and its immediate neighbours
The study was carried out in 2014, using the UNECE Evaluation Methodology and is the 4th study in a series, with earlier studies having been made in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. It features a detailed analysis of behind and at-the-border regulatory and procedural barriers to trade, highlighting their causes, how they interact to undermine the country’s export competitiveness and the extent to which these barriers could be addressed through regional cooperation.
For more information, please visit: http://www.unece.org/tradewelcome/studies-on-procedural-and-regulatory-barriers-to-trade.html