Competitiveness of the Kyrgyz Economy in the Wake of Accession to the Eurasian Customs Union : Selected Issues and Opportunities
This report explores the sectors that will be instrumental for positive CU impact and competitiveness in the medium term. The initial chapter analyzes the gaps and opportunities the Kyrgyz NQI presents for capturing benefits of access to the enlarg...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/04/26211462/competitiveness-kyrgyz-economy-wake-accession-eurasian-customs-union-selected-issues-opportunities http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24252 |
| Summary: | This report explores the sectors that
will be instrumental for positive CU impact and
competitiveness in the medium term. The initial chapter
analyzes the gaps and opportunities the Kyrgyz NQI presents
for capturing benefits of access to the enlarged common
market across sectors. The next three chapters take an
in-depth look at three high-growth sectors and identify
adaptation priorities and opportunities. Agriculture,
services, and garments are a large and growing share of
exports and are the sectors most likely to be transformed by
accession to the CU and the increased tariffs to countries
outside the EEU. Services added 56 percent to GDP in 2013,
while agriculture contributed 18 percent, and manufacturing
16 percent. Exports in the garment sector were close to
US$200 million in 2013, employing over 150,000 workers. The
main findings of each chapter are summarized below followed
by a summary of recommendations. This report is relevant to
the Kyrgyz experience as it highlights important differences
both in terms of regulations and technical requirements. The
report highlights differences between the EU and CU
regulatory systems in approaches to food safety and
legislation, but it also analyzes the differences in
infrastructure aspects of the NQI, such as testing
laboratories and certification mechanisms between the EU and
CU. The Customs Union approach is based on end-product
compliance to a speciļ¬c technical regulation or standard,
whereas the European Union relies on preventive measures and
minimizing risks associated with each process throughout the
complete food chain. In the CU food control system, food
control bodies verify that the end-product meets the
required technical specifications established by the
government; in the EU system, end-product attributes such as
size, color, shape, smell, and taste are generally left to
the marketplace to judge if they are acceptable.
Importantly, the report pinpoints specific technical
requirements for EU food safety that differ from the CU
requirements (microbiological criteria for foodstuff,
contaminants in food; maximum residue limits for residues of
pesticides, and pharmacologically active substances). |
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