Half of Kazakhstan’s smartphones smuggled, lawmakers demand action

In 2024, 64% of mobile devices imported into Kazakhstan entered the country illegally or through gray-market schemes, causing the state to miss out on approximately $200 million in VAT payments, according to MP Ekaterina Smyshlyayeva, who cited data from device manufacturers.

Smyshlyayeva noted that Kazakhstan currently lacks a procedure for distinguishing between legal and illegal devices. Existing laws do not provide for verifying IMEI codes (the unique 15-digit identifier for every mobile phone) against customs data and fail to address the secondary market or re-export of mobile devices.

The lawmaker believes Kazakhstan should integrate the IMEI system with customs data, automatically verify these codes against the intellectual property registry and create a publicly accessible whitelist of legally imported devices.

She also proposed regularly blocking illegal phones from telecom networks and imposing limits on the number of devices individuals can import for personal use without a declaration.

According to Smyshlyayeva, these measures would help reduce smuggling, protect consumers and restore fair taxation for importers.

Starting March 24, 2025, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development will implement new phone registration rules. A key change is the creation of a blacklist of smartphones. Any phone purchased after this date that is found to be illegal will be blocked.