ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 2. The cost of developing interstate and national standards in Kazakhstan decreased following the state audit, Trend reports.
The cost of developing national and interstate standards has been reduced in Kazakhstan by between 8 percent and 59 percent. The necessary measures were taken following the instructions of the Accounts Committee of Kazakhstan.
According to the Supreme Audit Chamber of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a state audit was conducted last year on the effectiveness of the activities of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan and its subordinate organizations.
“It was revealed that in 2021, 'KazStandard' proposed a new methodology for assessing the cost of developing standards. As a result, in 2022, the cost increased by 6.8-8.7 times compared to 2021. The wage fund increased even more - by 13.2 times, while the salaries of the relevant employees increased only by 0.3-2.2 times,” the message from the Supreme Audit Chamber of Kazakhstan states.
However, the order of the Committee for Technical Regulation, which approved this methodology, was not registered with the Ministry of Justice and, therefore, did not have the status of an official regulatory act. This violated the requirements of the Budget Code, which states that budget expenditures must be justified and supported by official documents.
In this regard, the Ministry of Trade was instructed to review the legality and appropriateness of the use of methodology ST RK (Standard of the Republic of Kazakhstan) 1.40 “National Standardization System of Kazakhstan. Methodology for estimating the cost of development of standardization documents”, as its use led to an unreasonable burden on the budget.
In fulfillment of the Supreme Audit Chamber's instruction, in 2025, the Ministry of Labor approved scientifically substantiated norms for the time required to develop standards. A new standard, ST RK 1.40, was also adopted with the goal of reducing the cost of developing standards.
Compared to the previous methodology, the cost decreased as follows: National standards (ST RK): Development from scratch – by 8 percent; Using international/regional standards with translation – by 12 percent; Based on research, analysis, and practice – by 17 percent.
Interstate standards (GOST, State standard): Development from scratch – by 11 percent; With translation of international/regional standards – by 15 percent; Without translation – by 12 percent; Based on research and practice – by 14 percent; GOST (second stage of development) – by 59 percent.
The Supreme Audit Chamber of the Republic of Kazakhstan (SAC RK)
is an independent body of external state audit and financial
control, subordinate and accountable directly to the President of
the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its mission is to strengthen financial
discipline, improve the efficiency of utilization of public funds
and assets, as well as to ensure the economic stability of the
country.
