How to Import Medicines into Kazakhstan: Rules for Buyers
How to import medicines into Kazakhstan: the Health Code's registration rule, who may import, and the exceptions for unregistered products, with sources.
The first condition for importing medicines into Kazakhstan is that the product is registered in Kazakhstan. Under Article 251 of the Code on Public Health and the Healthcare System (No. 360-VI of 7 July 2020), medicines and medical devices are imported in the procedure set by the authorised body, in line with Kazakhstan's customs legislation and the customs rules of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The same article prohibits importing medicines and medical devices that are not registered in Kazakhstan, except in the cases the Code lists. A distributor planning to buy from Turkey should therefore first confirm the product's registration status and who will act as importer.
Article 252 of the Code lists who may import medicines: holders of a licence to manufacture medicines and medical devices; holders of a licence for wholesale of medicines (and, for medical devices, entities registered after notifying the start of wholesale activity); research organisations and laboratories for development and registration; foreign manufacturers and their representatives for registration expertise, clinical trials and exhibitions; and healthcare organisations for medical activity. Because foreign manufacturers may import in their own name only for expertise, trials and exhibitions, commercial sales go to a Kazakh party on this list, such as a distributor holding a wholesale licence. The expert review that precedes registration is carried out by the National Center for Expertise of Medicines and Medical Devices (NCELS, ndda.kz) under the Ministry of Health.
Unregistered products may be imported only on the basis of a conclusion (permit document) issued by the authorised body and only for purposes listed in the Code. These include clinical trials, registration expertise and registration itself, medical care for a specific patient on vital indications or for a limited group of patients with rare or particularly severe conditions, exhibitions without the right of sale, humanitarian aid and emergencies, innovative medical technologies, vaccines and antidotes against radioactive, biological and chemical agents, and bulk products and active substances for manufacturing. The application procedure and the related public service are set out in the import and export rules approved by Ministry of Health Order No. ҚР ДСМ-237/2020 of 8 December 2020.
On the logistics side, storage and transport of medicines in Kazakhstan follow the rules approved by Order No. ҚР ДСМ-19 of 16 February 2021. A practical sequence is: confirm the product's Kazakh registration and the importer's licence, ask the exporter for the documents you need (for example a WHO-format CPP and batch certificates), and fix cold-chain and delivery terms in the contract. Because the legislation changes often, check current texts on adilet.zan.kz. CSC exports Turkish-origin medicines to regional markets, including Kazakhstan, with GDP-compliant warehousing and a 2-8°C cold chain; to request a quote, fill in the Medicine Request Form on our website.
Source: Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Public Health and the Healthcare System, 7 July 2020, No. 360-VI, Articles 251-252 (adilet.zan.kz); Ministry of Health Order ҚР ДСМ-237/2020 of 8 December 2020 (adilet.zan.kz); Ministry of Health Order ҚР ДСМ-19 of 16 February 2021 (adilet.zan.kz); NCELS (ndda.kz).