KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

The following measures should be taken to simplify and speed up the customs registration
procedure:
• develop and introduce a mechanism for notification in advance, i.e. to inform
the Customs Service about any consignment imported into Kyrgyzstan prior to
its arrival to the border, to reduce the time involved in customs procedures;
• introduce the “one window” approach for arranging joint control from authorities
in charge of radiating, veterinary, sanitary, phytosanitary and other control to be
in one location;
• collect customs duties and payments in strict conformity with the WTO Agreement
on Customs Valuation, which requires customs values to be designated either
in ad valorem terms or as shown on the invoice, rather than on the basis of the
minimal prices set by the KR Government. This procedure needs an effective
and functional system of information exchange between the Customs Services of
countries that are the main trading partners of Kyrgyzstan. In addition, customs
officers should be trained.
8. Closing of businesses. Procedures and costs to close businesses in Kyrgyzstan
are burdensome. This is confirmed by the data in Table 4, taken from the 2006 study that
was part of the Doing Business Project. Similar studies were carried out on an annual
basis within the same project of the World Bank. The studies investigate the time and
the financial means required by the bankruptcy procedure, and suggest measures to
solve gaps in bankruptcy-related laws.
Table 4
Indicator Kyrgyzstan Region OECD
Period (years) 4.0 3.1 1.7
Costs ( percent of average income per
capita)
15 13.4 8.4
Collecting factor (cents per dollar) 14.2 28.3 68.6
9. Incomplete administrative reform. In relation to reorganizing ministries and
administrative departments within the KR Government, an essential step in recent
years has been carried out by international organizations such as UNDP and TACIS.
On the basis of functional analysis approaches, the duties and functions in most
ministries were reviewed and recommendations were made to remove superfluous and
duplicate functions. However, the absence of monitoring and assessment has prevented
comprehensively tracing the implementation of the given recommendations. Most
conflicts of interests that lead to corruption remain, especially in regulatory processes.
It is also necessary to note that this horizontal functional analysis was casual; it
resulted in an irrational distribution of functions between ministries and departments.
It also led to the uneven use of human resources between state bodies and within
ministries and departments themselves. The functional analysis of local state
administrations and local governments was conducted only in pilot regions, and its
results have not yet been mehodically assessed. No financing mechanism has been
identified that would assure the implementation of functions that are delegated to
local governments.
One of the main goals for government is management reform. The reorientation
of state bodies’ and departments’ functional tasks should be from direct inference and
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