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Exporting to Kazakhstan — the EAEU customs union and EAC certification

Last reviewed 2026-10 · 4 sections

Kazakhstan is not just a market of its own: it is the largest economy in a customs union that covers a substantial part of Central Asia, so access here is access to a region.

The union, not just the country

  • Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, a single customs territory with a common external tariff and free movement of goods among members.
  • The practical implication is significant: goods admitted to Kazakhstan can move within the union. A buyer in Kazakhstan may be serving a much larger regional market, and your pricing should reflect that.
  • The tariff that applies is the union tariff for the line, not a purely Kazakh one.

EAC conformity is the product gate

Products in scope must carry EAC conformity — a declaration or certificate obtained through the union's conformity system, with testing to union technical regulations.

This is a product approval, and it is not the same as a CE mark or a national certificate from elsewhere. Where the goods are in scope, the EAC evidence must exist before they can be placed on the market — and the technical regulations are specific to the union, so a test report from another regime does not convert into compliance.

Labelling, language and payment routing

  • Labelling is required in Russian and, increasingly, Kazakh, with prescribed content — a genuinely different labelling exercise from the EU or Gulf.
  • Food and agricultural products face additional sanitary requirements under the union's regime, and registration may be required.
  • Payment routing needs planning. Banking channels into the region have been disrupted by sanctions affecting the wider area, so confirm with your bank that the route for your buyer's payment is open before you contract — this is a deal-viability question, not an afterthought.

Documents and market reading

  • Commercial invoice, packing list, transport document, certificate of origin; EAC declaration or certificate for in-scope goods; Russian/Kazakh labelling artwork; sanitary registration where required.
  • Kazakh trade data reflects a landlocked economy with pipeline and rail dependency. Read the logistics of the route — via China, via the Caspian, or via Russia — because the route affects lead time, cost and risk more than the tariff does.

Use the tools

Sources & further reading

Eurasian Economic Commission Kazakhstan Ministry of Trade & Integration Kazakhstan customs (State Revenue Committee)

These guides summarise public material from the bodies named above. They are general information, not advice on a specific shipment, and they are not a substitute for a ruling from your customs authority or a qualified customs broker / consultant.

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