Kazakhstan Proposes Ban on Wheat Imports via All Transport Modes
The Ministry of Agriculture in Kazakhstan has put forth a proposal to enforce a six-month prohibition on the import of wheat from external countries and states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) through all modes of transportation.
This proposal was disclosed through a draft order published on the “Open legal acts” portal.
As per the draft, the import of wheat via rail will be permitted solely for the requirements of poultry and flour mills, strictly for production and consumption purposes. Importantly, this wheat is strictly prohibited from being traded on both domestic and foreign markets.
The accompanying explanatory note emphasizes that Kazakhstan’s domestic grain reserves are currently sufficient. The additional influx of grain from neighboring Russia has resulted in a decrease in demand and subsequent drop in prices within the domestic market.
The draft order is open for public commentary until March 26, and as of now, no comments have been received.
It’s noteworthy that previously, the government announced its intention to allocate funds from reserves for purchasing fourth and fifth-grade wheat as well as non-grade wheat from local farmers, amounting to 31 billion 375 million tenge.
