While tax reforms are being discussed within the country, there is a remarkable calm at the external borders of Kyrgyzstan. According to an official report from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic, only 112 violations were recorded at border veterinary control points in 2025.
All detained cargoes were deemed potentially dangerous or improperly documented, and they were sent back. The most frequent countries of violation include:
Uzbekistan - 51 returns; Kazakhstan - 48 returns; Russia - 8 returns; China - 3 returns; Turkey and Pakistan - 1 case each.
The main complaints from inspectors were related to "document discrepancies" and "violations of safety requirements." However, the figure of 112 cases in a year raises questions among specialists: is this a sign of excellent quality of imported products or does it indicate insufficient strictness of border control? International practice shows that increased control leads to a significant rise in detected violations.
Global Experience in Control
In international practice, the effectiveness of control services is measured not by the absence of incidents, but by their ability to identify and eliminate hidden threats.
As reported by The New York Times, American regulatory agencies discover thousands of violations annually when importing food products. Strict control is considered a guarantee of the country's health: the more batches of questionable products are blocked at the inspection stage, the lower the likelihood of disease outbreaks. High rates of detected violations are perceived as a success of the system, rather than a failure.
The General Administration of Customs of China regularly publishes lists of companies whose products are banned from import due to the slightest discrepancies with standards. Mass detection of violations (for example, the presence of heavy metals in fish or bacteria in milk) is seen as an indicator of the strength of the national "veterinary shield."
In this context, 112 return cases in Kyrgyzstan over the year appear more like "testing" than an active fight against poor-quality imports. In comparison, neighboring leading countries report thousands of blocked batches annually. It seems that veterinary control at the borders of Kyrgyzstan has room for improvement in vigilance so that the figures in reports reflect the actual state of safety of imported products.
