Kazakhstan to adopt law on commodity exchanges, to regulate trade in grain and oil products

/INTERFAX-KAZAKHSTAN, Astana, May 20, 08/ - On Tuesday, in Astana the draft law "On Commodity Exchanges", regulating internal trade in strategic materials was presented in Mazhilis of Kazakhstan Parliament. "The necessity to regulate public relations, appearing during exchange trade, to determine principals and organizing bases of government regulation of commodity exchanges activity on legislative level have reached a crisis point" - the Vice minister of Industry and Trade of Republic, Edil Mamytbekov said presenting the bill. He also added that actuality of the document increases under the conditions of "struggle against non-monetary factors in inflation, such as price concert, restriction of competitiveness and corruption". According to E. Mamytbekov, along with adoption of the document "conditions for quick developing of commodity exchanges will be created, trade with materials of strategic meaning will be regulated and also conditions for wholesale trade with materials of social meaning, such as flour sugar, cereals and others will be provided". At that he explained grain and oil products are also related to materials of strategic meaning. "The government will approve the range of materials of strategic meaning" - the Vice minister underlined, adding that "the range is not static and will be changed depending on situation". Meanwhile, as E. Mamytbekov explained, the principal innovation of the bill is determination of legal-organizational form of commodity exchange as independent legal entity. Such principals of exchange trade as voluntariness of exchange deals, equal rights of participants of exchange trade, free pricing on commodity exchange on the base of demand and supply, fair competition are mentioned in it. "Taking into consideration that positive moment of developing activity of commodity exchanges is a gradual shift to a futures market, as to instrument of pricing, price risk insurances of entrepreneurs, the legal base for circulation of futures contracts on commodity exchanges are also presented" - the Vice minister also remarked. At the same time, according to E. Mamytbekov, the Ministry of Industry offered to include amends in several laws currently in force, with the aim to form them in accordance with the suggested draft law "On Commodity Exchanges". In particular, amend and additions are included in corporate violations code (in part of setting responsibility in relation to subjects of entrepreneurship for violation of legislation on commodity exchanges), in the law "On Licensing" (introducing of licensed types of activity, in particular, on commodity exchanges activity, broker and dealer), in the law "On Private Entrepreneurship" (introducing of state supervision for legislation compliance on commodity exchanges), in the law "On State Purchases" (in the part of determination of government competence for approving the range of exchange commodities and minimal volume of provided consignments, which are realized only by means of open commodity exchanges within the state purchases of organizations and also the range of organizations, which are obliged to conduct state purchases in the established order by means of open commodity exchanges). [2008-05-21]