The Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC) has reviewed the results of the state audit of the effectiveness of ensuring veterinary-sanitary, phytosanitary and food safety.
According to the press service of the department, the inspection covered the Ministry of Agriculture, its committees and subordinate organisations, the national company 'Food Contract Corporation', the National Agrarian Scientific and Educational Centre, the national holding 'QazBioPharm', specialised universities and regional social-entrepreneurial corporations.
It has become known that the volume of agricultural output last year amounted to 8.3 trillion tenge, which is 9% more than in 2023. Of the total volume, gross crop production amounts to 5 trillion tenge (60.2%), and livestock production to 3.2 trillion tenge (39.6%).
In turn, the auditors identified a number of problematic factors constraining the development of the agro-industrial complex.
"These include inconsistencies between programme development documents, non-compliance with self-sufficiency indicators and insufficient monitoring of food stocks," the statement said.
It is noted that the level of self-sufficiency in key products still does not reach 80%, and the calculation methods used do not take into account physiological consumption norms.
Furthermore, the SAC stated that the country has still not introduced an automated system for accounting and controlling food stocks, which leads to unreliable data on the availability and movement of such goods.
As it turned out, there are also shortcomings in the areas of veterinary and phytosanitary safety.
"More than 87% of veterinary laboratories are not accredited to meet international standards. Cases of violations of procurement procedures for veterinary drugs worth over 396 million tenge have been identified. Not all border checkpoints (24 border checkpoints out of 101) are currently equipped with phytosanitary control," the statement said.
State auditors also pointed to the low pace of development of research activities in agriculture. In 2023, this figure reached only 0.26% of GDP.
Among other things, the auditors identified ineffective planning of budget funds amounting to over 179 million tenge, as well as ineffective use totalling 66.2 billion tenge.
Following the audit event, the authorised bodies took measures, as a result of which 4.4 billion tenge were returned to state assets. The SAC sent recommendations and instructions to eliminate all identified violations and problems.