Kazakhstan is strengthening oversight of food markets and supply chains. Since the beginning of the year, authorities have removed 150 unproductive intermediaries from the sector as part of efforts to increase transparency in trade, combat shadow-market practices and stabilize prices for socially significant food products, the Ministry of Trade said in a statement.
To date, 63 key food markets with the greatest influence on regional pricing have been identified. Inspections, monitoring and awareness campaigns are being carried out at these sites. An examination of 18 markets, including Altyn Orda and Barys-4, revealed 486 violations.
Inspections uncovered a number of systemic issues, including the sale of counterfeit and unlabelled products, shadow trading activities, violations of cash register regulations, informal employment and the repeated subleasing of trading spaces.
Particular attention has been paid to combating the illegal circulation of goods. In several regions, authorities identified cases of imported chicken eggs being sold without the required documentation and labelling. Approximately 32,500 eggs were removed from illegal circulation.
The Ministry of Finance inspected 38 major food markets and analysed the activities of businesses operating there. A further 67 markets, involving more than 16,600 trading entities, were selected for continued monitoring. The review found that 4,843 businesses had been conducting retail trade without registering cash registers, 5,846 lacked registered POS terminals, and 247 entities showed signs of underreporting income.
Authorities also identified cases of unregulated street trading and illegal business activity.
Regional authorities have been instructed to strengthen market oversight, install video surveillance systems, intensify efforts to identify unproductive intermediaries and ensure compliance with maximum permitted trade mark-ups.
