On some issues of application of minimum price levels
On June 16, 2018, the Interdepartmental Commission on Foreign Trade Policy and Participation in International Economic Organizations made a decision to apply a minimum price level to the following goods: cheeses and cottage cheese, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, bananas, oranges, tangerines, apples, persimmons, blueberries, sunflower seeds, margarine, sausages, pasta, mineral or chemical fertilizers, solvents and thinners, antifreezes, slag wool, mineral silicate wool, firebricks.
The minimum price level (MPL) does not affect the wholesale and retail prices of goods. The MPL is applied only when calculating taxes on imports. The MPL is a mechanism designed to prevent evasion of VAT when importing goods.
In this regard, the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan has developed a draft order establishing a new formula for calculating the MPL for goods not produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The list of certain types of goods for which the minimum price level applies (Government Decree of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 14.12.2021 No. 882) is divided into 2 sections (under approval):
1) goods produced in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan
2) goods not produced in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The MPL is calculated as the average value between the price declared by the importer and the price of local producers. This value is used exclusively to calculate the VAT amount when importing goods.
The MPL mechanism was adopted at the initiative of the tax authorities in 2021 and is applied starting from July 1, 2022.
The MPL mechanism is used in cases where tax authorities record cases of import of goods at extremely low prices. For example, in 2025, apples were imported at 9 tenge per kg. at a market price of 500 tenge, bananas - 23 tenge per kg, at a market price of 1200 tenge/kg, oranges - 22 tenge/kg, at a market price of 900 tenge/kg, sausage - 695 tenge per kg (about 3.5 thousand tenge). This cost leads to a significant reduction in the VAT amounts that must be paid upon import.
The Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan has published a draft order "On Amendments and Supplements to the Order of the Acting Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated November 16, 2021 No. 594-НК "On Approval of the Rules for Applying the Minimum Price Level in Relation to Certain Types of Goods Imported from the Territory of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union to the Territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Determine the Cost of Purchased Goods", from September 3, 2025 to September 18, 2025, a public discussion of this draft will be held on the Open NPA portal (link https://legalacts.egov.kz/npa/view?id=15589063).