“Committee of veterinary control and supervision of the ministry of agriculture of Kazakhstan received the conclusion of Rosselkhoznadzor (the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) for the welfare of the territory of Kazakhstan for FMD,” said the report.

The report said that currently, issues of meat export and transportation of farm animals to Russia from a number of regions of Kazakhstan, the import of which was previously banned, except for the four rural districts of Zhambyl and five rural districts of Almaty region, bordering China and Kyrgyzstan, have been agreed upon with Rosselkhoznadzor.

As of December 19, 2014, Kazakhstan exported 11.908.33 metric tons of meat and meat products.

A few years ago, a buffer zone in Almaty, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, South Kazakhstan and East Kazakhstan regions was created in Kazakhstan in order to provide safety during the transportation of the livestock products within the Customs Union. Thus, the export of meat and transportation of animals from these regions to other areas of the republic and Russia have been banned up to the present day.

In August 2014, as a result of targeted measures from the Kazakh side and cooperation with Rosselkhoznadzor, restrictions on the export of meat from the East Kazakhstan region were lifted and the importation of animal products to Russia was allowed.

In addition, the ministry of agriculture of Kazakhstan has submitted two applications to the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) (World Organization for Animal Health) in order to obtain the status of a zone free from foot and mouth disease. It is expected that after the consideration of the Kazakh dossier, the republic will receive the status of FMD-free country at the next Assembly of the OIE in May 2015. This will allow Kazakhstan to export animal products to the EU and the WTO countries, and will open access to the world markets for agriculture producers of the country.

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