Non-Tarriff Barriers to Trade
Overview
Turkmenistan’s standards system is top-down and government-driven. Virtually all aspects of production and distribution are regulated; although these standards are not voluntary, the state has limited capacity to enforce them. Businesses sometimes complain of selective enforcement.
Standards and Technical Regulations
Turkmenistan has developed national technical standards (TDS) that often mirror Soviet-era GOST standards, with modifications for local conditions. Key sectors with strict standards: Food and beverages (safety, labeling, nutritional content), pharmaceuticals and medical devices, chemicals and hazardous materials, electrical and electronic products, construction materials and machinery.
Turkmenistan’s trade standards are regulated primarily by the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification. The legal framework includes Law on Standardization, Law on Technical Regulation, Law on Certification of Products and Services. These laws govern both domestic production and imports/exports, ensuring compliance with Turkmen national standards (TDS/TGOST).
The State Committee for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification is the regulatory agency for standards and metrology in Turkmenistan. There are no other standards organizations in Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan became a correspondent member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1993. In 2015, Turkmenistan created a national organization for bar coding. In May 2015, global standards organization GS1 issued a country prefix of 42015, globalts made in Turkmenistan.
Testing, Inspection and Certification
Conformity Assessment
All imported goods must be certified as adhering to quality standards set by the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification. Bilateral agreements on the acceptance of national state certificates allow for mutually simplified procedures on issuing conformance certificates for imported/exported goods. The United States and Turkmenistan do not have an intergovernmental agreement on standards, metrology, and certification.
Product Certification
Turkmen legislation requires that products be certified. Gauging equipment also needs to be calibrated by the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification. In 1998, Turkmenistan introduced a sanitary certification requirement for food products imported into Turkmenistan. The State Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate (SSEI) conducts tests of imported food products to issue certificates of conformity. Certificates of conformance for food products must be accompanied by a Russian-language product description. In March 2019, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIE) officially opened the first private sector food safety laboratory in Turkmenistan.
Accreditation
Turkmenistan joined the International Standard Association in 1991, and in 1992 began to adhere to the Interstate Council on Standards, Metrology, and Certification that covers CIS countries.
Publication of Technical Regulations
The State Committee for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification publishes national standards updates.
“Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to notify to the WTO proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade. Notify U.S. (www.nist.gov/notifyus) is a free, web-based e-mail registration service that captures and makes available for review and comment key information on draft regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Users receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are added by selected country(ies) and industry sector(s) of interest and can also request full texts of regulations. This service and its associated web site are managed and operated by the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.” Turkmenistan became an observer to the WTO in July 2020.
Contact Information
Main State Standards Service “State Committee for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification ”
12 Galkynysh Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan, 744004
Tel: (993-12) 49-58-59
Fax: (993-12) 51-04-48
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 Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) 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.