Kazakhstan Amends Official Language Legislation

Legislative amendments concerning the status and use of two official languages in Kazakhstan, Kazakh and Russian, entered into force on January 11, 2022.

Amendments to the Law on Languages

Under the recent amendments, signboards of privately owned companies and organizations, as well as their announcements, advertisements, forms, price lists, price tags, menus, signs and other visual information no longer need to be in both Kazakh and Russian languages. They now need to be in Kazakh only, but may also be in Russian and/or other languages if this is necessary under certain circumstances. Trademarks protected in Kazakhstan which are used in signboards of non-governmental organizations should remain unchanged and do not need to be translated.

Amendments to the Law on Public Health and Healthcare System

While language requirements were not previously defined, it is now mandatory to use both Kazakh and Russian languages on:

• Labels applied to medication packaging and on the document that provides information about the medicine and its use; and
• Labels applied either directly to medical products or to their packaging and on instructions for their use (this applies to any instruments, devices, equipment, materials and other items used in medical facilities).

Amendments to the Law on Advertising

It is no longer mandatory to distribute advertisements in both Kazakh and Russian, but only in Kazakh, while the ads may also be in Russian and/or other languages at the discretion of the advertiser. This rule does not apply to the ads in printed publications, on the Internet and those used by news agencies, which must be in both official languages.

Prepared by: Malika Bexultan

For more information, please contact kazakhstan@petosevic.com.

Source: Kazakh online legal portal online.zakon.kz