On July 10, 2023, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 18-VIII "On Online Platforms and Online Advertising" (hereinafter referred to as the "Law on Online Platforms and Online Advertising") was adopted in the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as  "Kazakhstan").

On July 11, 2023, the Law on Online Platforms and Online Advertising was officially published and it entered into force from September 10, 2023.

The Law on Online Platforms and Online Advertising regulates online platforms operating on the territory of Kazakhstan, as well as production, placement, distribution and storage of online advertising on the territory of Kazakhstan.

Order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“RK”) No. 124 dated July 3, 2023 (“Order”) introduced amendments into the Order of the Minister of Health of the RK No ҚР DSM-247/2020 dated December 11, 2020 “On Approval of the Rules on Regulation, Formation of Ceiling Prices and Mark-ups for Medicines, as well as Medical Devices within the Guaranteed Volume of Free Medical Care (“GOBMP”) and (or) in the system of Obligatory Social Health Insurance (“OSMS”)” (hereinafter referred to as the "Rules").

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (“Uzbekistan”) signed the Law “On Competition” No. ZRU-850 dated July 3, 2023, in a new edition (the “New Law”). The New Law comes into force on October 3, 2023.

General Provisions

Consequently, the Law of Uzbekistan “On Competition” No. LRU-319 dated January 6, 2012 (the “Law on Competition”) and the Law of Uzbekistan “On Natural Monopolies” No. LRU-815-I dated August 19, 1999, are repealed. The New Law introduces a number of new legal concepts such as superior bargaining power, digital platform, state-owned enterprise, affiliates of state-owned enterprises, etc.

The Rules on Wholesale and Retail Sale of Medicines and Medical Devices were amended by the Order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“RK”) No. 98 dated June 2, 2023 (“Rules on Wholesale and Retail Sale”).

Kazakhstan – May 2023

On May 11, 2023 the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission approved the Recommendations on General Approaches to Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the "Recommendations").  

The Recommendations were developed in order to unify the legislation of member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter referred to as the "EAEU") in terms of protecting consumer rights in the sale of goods (services) intended for personal needs that are not related to entrepreneurial activities through electronic commerce (hereinafter referred to as the “E-commerce”).

Kazakhstan Rules for State Registration of Medicines and Medical Devices have been amended

The Rules for State Registration, Re-registration of a Medicine or a Medical Device, introducing amendments to the Registration Dossier of a Medicine or Medical Device[1] (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules for Registration of Medicines and MD”) have been amended in connection with the introduction of the concept of “Strategically Important Medicines and Medical Devices” in the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 7, 2020 No. 360-VI "On the health of the people and the healthcare system" (hereinafter - the "Code").

Strategically Important Medicines and Medical Devices inter alia include Medicines and Medical Devices (hereinafter referred to as “MD”) intended for medical use in the absence or in the threat of absence of Medicines or MD on the markets of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union due to introduction of restrictive economic measures against at least one of the Member States[2].

On March 11, 2023 Uzbekistani Anti-corruption Agency approved the Regulations “On Acceptance of Gifts by Public Civil Servants” No.3425 (the “Regulations”).

Under the Regulations, a civil servant may accept gifts during business trips abroad, during international and other official events, including in the Republic of Uzbekistan (“Uzbekistan”), in case if the gift:

The Agency for Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the “Agency”) has published the final results of the analysis of the state of competition on the market for the sale of medicines on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the "Analysis").

The Analysis has been carried out in accordance with the Entrepreneurial Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Methodology for analyzing the state of competition on the goods market.

On October 5, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter – “Uzbekistan”) adopted the Resolution “On the Approval of Certain Regulatory Legal Acts in the Field of Personal Data Processing” No. 570 (hereinafter – the “Resolution”). The Resolution will come into force on January 7, 2023. Please see below some of the key, from our standpoint, changes provided by the Resolution.

On October 27, 2022, the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter – “Uzbekistan”) “On Additional Measures to Provide the Population with Quality Medicines and Medical Devices” No. PP-411 dated October 26, 2022 (hereinafter – the “Resolution”) came into force. Please see below some of the key, from our standpoint, changes provided by the Resolution.