June 21 2007, 10:30

Kazakhstan government will take action to decline the final cost of the imported produce

"The annual growth for produce has been constituted around 20-25% in Kazakhstan in the recent three years. A complex approach is needed to solve this problem and to reduce the retail prices for vegetables and fruits. The practice of the occasional actions, like the organization of "vegetable caravan", was not worth the trouble, to our opinion", Kuandyk Bishimbayev, the Vice-Minister of Industry and Trade said on the meeting gathered to discuss vegetable and fruit supplies from the southern regions of the country and the neighboring countries.

According to his information, the main reason of the growth of the final price for produce is long custom procedures and illegal exactions on the country roads. In this regard the Vice-Minister said that "one of the solutions of this situation, to our opinion, is the complex inspection of all auto vehicles loaded with fruits and vegetables by all custom, transport, and ecologic services on the entrance to the territory of Kazakhstan; we also would like to ban the vetting of the trucks on the territory of the country".