What has changed
On 23 September 2026 the Minister of Industry and Construction signed Order No. 474. It amends two documents approved by Order No. 434 of 14 October 2025: the rules for granting organisations the authority to issue passports for vehicles and self-propelled machines, and the rules for maintaining electronic passports, including EPSMs (electronic passports of self-propelled machines). The order enters into force after the day of its first official publication; Zakon.kz gives a specific date, 27 September.
For buyers of special machinery, the main news is the new paragraph 5-1 of the rules. Electronic passports may no longer be issued in Kazakhstan for vehicles, chassis and machines that have been released into circulation in another EAEU country and imported from there. The passport for such equipment is issued in the Union country where it was released into circulation, under the common procedure for the functioning of electronic passport systems approved by Decision No. 122 of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) of 22 September 2015. The passport details reach Kazakhstan's system through the national operator, which exchanges data with the systems of the other EAEU countries.
Put simply, if an excavator or a dump truck has already been released into circulation in, say, Russia, its electronic passport has to be issued there, not in Kazakhstan. There is no point in applying to a Kazakh authorised organisation for such a passport.
Paragraph 5-1 makes an exception for certain categories listed in paragraph 5 of the rules. That paragraph still leaves within the remit of Kazakh authorised organisations, for example, machines from Union countries that were released into circulation there before electronic passports were in place: in Belarus and Russia before 30 June 2023, and in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan before 31 August 2023.
Who is affected
- Companies that buy excavators, loaders, bulldozers and other machinery from dealers in Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan or Armenia, if the machine has already been released into circulation there.
- Anyone importing used machinery from Union countries that was released into circulation with an electronic passport already issued.
- Authorised organisations that issue EPSMs: the scope of their work on machinery from the EAEU is narrowing, while their obligations to inspect machines are now spelt out in more detail.
- Kazakh manufacturers and assembly plants, which now need an extract from the Register of Kazakhstani Commodity Producers in order to be included in the national part of the Unified Register. Removal from that register has also become grounds for removal from the Unified Register.
Marking checks: what the rules say
The updated version of the rules sets out the obligations of authorised organisations in detail. When issuing passports, they must identify and photograph the machines, including their identification markings. If the equipment shows signs that the factory markings have been concealed, forged, altered or destroyed, or if the machine does not match the information submitted, no electronic passport is issued and the competent authorities of Kazakhstan are notified within five working days at the latest. The rules treat issuing a passport despite such signs as grounds for refusing an organisation its authority, including when it reapplies. Similar requirements apply to motor vehicles and chassis; for these, the emergency call device must also be checked.
For the buyer, this means one simple thing: a machine with re-stamped or illegible plates, or with suspicious frame or component numbers, risks being left without a passport, and its details will be passed on to government agencies.
Where the amendments came from
The Ministry of Industry and Construction put the draft order up for public consultation, which ran until 12 September. As Kazinform reported, the document was drawn up to bring the rules into line with international acts adopted under treaties ratified by Kazakhstan, and to clarify the procedure for issuing passports according to the country of import and the date the equipment was released into circulation in the EAEU. The draft also separately regulates the exchange of data with the electronic passport systems of the other Union countries.
The amendments coincided with work at Union level. In August the Eurasian Economic Commission approved a plan to improve EAEU law on electronic passport systems for vehicles, self-propelled machines and other types of equipment. According to Alexander Subbotin, the EEC Minister for Technical Regulation, the plan covers registers and digital conformity assessment documents, the alignment of passport data with those documents, and problems with the transfer of customs information. The measures in the plan run until the second quarter of 2027.
What to do now
- Before paying for machinery bought in another EAEU country, check with the seller whether an electronic passport has been issued for it in the country where it was released into circulation, and ask for the passport number and an extract. A Kazakh authorised organisation is no longer entitled to issue such a passport.
- Set out in the supply contract who issues the EPSM and passes on its details, and within what time frame.
- If the machine was released into circulation in a Union country without an electronic passport before 30 June 2023 (Belarus, Russia) or before 31 August 2023 (Armenia, Kyrgyzstan), keep the documents confirming the release date: it determines who issues the passport.
- Keep track of the passport's status. Under Kazakhstan's rules, it becomes “active” once information has been received on the release of the goods (for imports) and on payment of the recycling fee.
- Inspect the factory plates and the markings on the frame and major units before the deal, and if in doubt, bring in an independent expert.
- Kazakh machinery assemblers should check that their company is included in the Register of Kazakhstani Commodity Producers.
Sources
- ИПС «Әділет», "Об утверждении Правил и условий выдачи заключения о предоставлении организациям полномочий по оформлению паспортов и Правил ведения электронных паспортов транспортных средств и самоходных машин (приказ № 434, редакция с изменениями от 23.09.2026 № 474)", 2026-10-16: https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/V2500037131
- Zakon.kz, "Изменились правила оформления электронных паспортов на транспорт", 2026-09-28: https://www.zakon.kz/pravo/6533033-izmenilis-pravila-oformleniya-elektronnykh-pasportov-na-transport.html
- Kazinform, "Порядок оформления электронных паспортов на транспорт пересмотрят в Казахстане", 2026-09-07: https://www.inform.kz/ru/poryadok-oformleniya-elektronnih-pasportov-na-transport-peresmotryat-v-kazahstan-32f79b56
- Sputnik Казахстан, "Электронные паспорта для автотранспорта гармонизируют в ЕАЭС", 2026-08-12: https://ru.sputnik.kz/20260812/elektronnye-pasporta-dlya-avtotransporta-garmoniziruyut-v-eaes--65658122.html
