Kyrgyzstan Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in Kyrgyzstan, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals.
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Kyrgyz Republic - Standards for Trade
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Technical Barriers to Trade and Standards

Overview

In May 2004, the Parliament passed a technical regulation law that decreased the quantity and complexity of government regulation. From March 20, 2024, the Center for Standardization and Metrology under the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic (KyrgyzStandard) is responsible for confirming product conformity and accrediting conformity assessment bodies. KyrgyzStandard registers declarations of conformity, per the EAEU’s technical regulations, with the exception of road construction products, building materials, products and structures, and technical means of communication.

The Kyrgyz Republic applies a range of technical regulations and standards, many of which are harmonized within the framework of the EAEU. While the goal is to facilitate trade among member countries, these regulations may present non-tariff barriers for non-EAEU exporters due to complex conformity assessment procedures, language requirements, and limited mutual recognition of standards. The Kyrgyz Republic ‘s system of technical regulation is governed by:

  • The Law on Technical Regulation (2004);
  • EAEU technical regulations (TR EAEU);
  • Domestic technical regulations where EAEU standards are not yet adopted.

Standards and Technical Regulations

Key national and regional institutions involved in standards development and enforcement include:
The Center for Standards and Metrology under the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic (CSM or KyrgyzStandard)
197 Panfilov Street
720040 Bishkek
Kyrgyz Republic
Phone: +996 (312) 62 37 90
E-mail: nism@nism.gov.kg
Web: www.nism.gov.kg

Testing, inspection, and certification

KyrgyzStandard is responsible for accreditation. Products that could possibly endanger human health must be certified. This list includes items such as alcohol, tobacco products, medical supplies and equipment, and other items. A conformity assessment is not required for goods that do not require product certification. However, for products that do require an assessment, KyrgyzStandard’s lack of capacity hinders businesses’ ability to comply with statutory requirements. For instance, modern, high-tech environmental (e.g. air quality) monitoring equipment is required to be calibrated and certified on an annual basis. Because of the limited verification services in country, the operators of such devices have to seek capable laboratories outside the country, which is time consuming and costly. 

Publication of Technical Regulations

KyrgyzStandard maintains most technical regulations and has regulations available for public access.
 

Use ePing to Review Proposed Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by World Trade Organization (WTO) Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995, to present. ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and is a versatile tool that can be used to: 

  • Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.
  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed.
  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees. 
     

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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