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Table 3.16 VAT exemptions on imported goods, works, and services
Tax code reference: 257
Good, work, or service: Specialized goods and equipment intended for the construction of energy installations based on the use of renewable energy

3.86. The main import prohibitions and restrictions derive from the EAEU rules as contained in Articles 46 and 47 of and Annex 7 to the EAEU Treaty, (...) The rationales for introducing unilateral non-tariff measures are defined in Annex 7: (i) protect human life and health and the environment, animals, and plants; (...) (iii) prevent the exhaustion of natural resources; (...).

3.87. The EAEU prohibitions and restrictions are designated in a "Single List" of products for the customs union (Table A3.2). The Single List entered into force on 1 January 2010 and has been amended a number of times. As at April 2020, 7 items were prohibited for importation, 15 were restricted and required permission through licensing for import (non-automatic licensing), and 1 was under surveillance and subject to automatic licensing (Table A3.2). Many of the items were in place due to international conventions, such as CITES, the Stockholm Convention, and the Basel Convention, while others reflect national or regional interests. The majority of items were of a permanent nature. (...).

3.90. In 2017, the Kyrgyz Republic launched a project to strengthen the capacity for national implementation of international agreements related to chemicals and waste, e.g. the Basel Convention, the Rotterdam Convention, and the Minamata Convention. The goal was to support institutional capacity to facilitate better implementation and strengthen the Kyrgyz Republic's legislative and regulatory framework. As a result, a number of recommendations, regulatory documents, and draft decrees were prepared to improve chemical safety. Within this project, an analysis was carried out to identify ways to phase out the use of glyphosate. According to the results of the analysis, it was recommended to allow reasonable use of glyphosate-based herbicides in agriculture until 2029, whereafter a subsequent ban on importation and use in the Kyrgyz Republic is envisaged.

3.101. Export duties have been applied on scrap and waste of certain ferrous and non-ferrous metals since October 2019, pursuant to Government Resolution No. 479 of 16 September 2019. (...)

3.107. The EAEU also maintains a list of products that are significantly important to the internal market in which temporary bans or export restrictions can be put in place. (...) The products include (...) waste paper, wool, and various metal waste and scrap.

3.108. The Kyrgyz Republic also put in place a number of temporary measures during the review period. In June 2019, the Government issued a decree prohibiting the export of marble and travertine, in crude, roughly trimmed, and cut forms. The measure entered into force on 20 July 2019 for six months. The Kyrgyz Republic notified this measure as a quantitative restriction with the justification as Article XX(g) of the GATT 1994. Another temporary measure was put in place in June 2020, banning the export of Kyrgyz limestone outside the customs territory of the EAEU for six months. According to the authorities, the Resolution was adopted in order to rationalize the use of an irreplaceable natural resource and to prevent a critical shortage of raw material natural limestone shell rock at the Sary-Tash deposit. [116] (...).

[116] Government Resolution No. 284 of 3 June 2020 about Introduction of a Temporary Ban on the Export of Raw Limestone Shell Rock or Roughly Shattered, Sawn or Divided in a Different Way into Blocks or Plates of Rectangular or Square Shape, from the Territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

3.127. The Kyrgyz Republic has not made a notification of subsidies under Article 25 of the SCM Agreement since 2010. Available evidence suggests that various types of financial incentives exist, notably under the tax regime.

e. The production of electricity from renewable sources benefits from exemptions from corporate income tax and VAT.

3.137. The EAEU Treaty states that "technical regulation of the EAEU members shall be used for the purpose of protecting life and (or) human health, property, the environment, protecting life and (or) health of animals and plants, prevention of actions misleading consumers as well as to ensure energy efficiency and resource conservation within the EAEU. (...)

Box 3.3 National technical regulations establishing product requirements not included in the EAEU Common List
Law No. 151 of 8 May 2009 on Environmental Safety