The production and import of unlabeled footwear on the territory of Kazakhstan will be prohibited from November 1, the State Revenue Committee reported. Importers are given the opportunity to sell remaining goods until April 1, 2022. This measure will help combat the illegal turnover of products. After all, nearly half of the entire footwear market in the country is in the shadows. After the introduction of mandatory labeling, each pair will have its own digital code. It will provide all the necessary information about the quality of goods. According to Director General of the Digital Economy Development Center Bikesh Kurmangaliyeva, 96 percent accounts for imports, and only 4 percent – for domestic production.
“The price of the digital code tariff for one pair of shoes is 2.68 tenge. As a single operator, we conducted negotiations with 45 foreign factories for the production of footwear for Kazakhstan. That is, on average, the cost of labeling for producers and importers is between 0.1 and 2.5 percent of the price of one pair. In short, digital labeling does not significantly change the price of a product of legally operating entrepreneurs in the market,” Kurmangaliyeva said.
The price of footwear in Kazakhstan can go up after the introduction of labeling, because their cost was 20 percent lower due to the fact that value added tax and customs duties were not paid for the illegal transportation of goods. The project manager of the Digital Economy Development Center Muhammedkhaidar Seit noted that the shortcomings have been eliminated, and everything is working within the law. Also, free mobile applications were developed for the convenience of consumers and entrepreneurs.
Translation by Saniya Sakenova
Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova
