Labelling in Kazakhstan

The Kazakh state pays a lot of attention to the issue of the traceability of goods and food, in order to assure consumers about the quality and safety of products placed on the market. This awareness of the quality and safety of products originates from the issue of the "Consumer Protection Code" in 1991, whose Article 13 expressly states that the control and certification activities are entrusted to state bodies specifically responsible for carrying out such functions. In the following years there has been a proliferation of specific standards and technical regulations for the sector, among which the Standard of the Republic of Kazakhstan n. 1010-99.

Specifically, as regards the labeling of products made in Kazakhstan, the matter is governed by the amending law of 21 January 2013, which provides for the obligation to transcribe information, ingredients, the brand, and instructions for use in the language Kazakh and Russian. The same applies to imported products for which specific information must be provided in the Kazakh and Russian languages; the costs related to the translation are borne by the importer.

The legislator has indicated the order in which the information on the products must be indicated: the translation in Kazakh language should be placed on the left or at the top, in the Russian language on the right or bottom. Both labels must have characters of the same size.

If required, the information can also be translated into other languages: in these circumstances the size of the font used must be uniform with the others already present on the package. Failure to comply with the aforementioned rules is punished with a pecuniary administrative sanction, the amount of which is commensurate with the type of company and the average turnover achieved by a company of the same size.