Ecological Code of the Kyrgyz Republic - Summary
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The development of Ecological Code of the Kyrgyz Republic has the objective to revise and amend the
existing environmental protection legislation and bring it in line with the international commitments of
the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The necessity to onsolidate the acting legislation is prompted by the lack of
adequate interdepartmental and intersectoral interactions.
The existing system of environmental protection legislation is cumbersome since it includes a very large
number of normative legal acts (almost 300) which makes difficult their practical implementation.
The Ecological Code must constitute the backbone document establishing normatives that have
preeminence over specific legal acts pertaining to the protection and exploitation of individual natural
resources.
This draft Ecological Code does not directly touch on the competence of agencies responsible for the
protection and use of natural resources; it reduces to a minimum duplication of functions and, at the same
time, establishes common ecosystemic principles of conservation of natural resources as constituent
components of the holistic environment. The Code includes all norms and standards most essential for the
management of the environment that are absent in by-laws of the second and third level.
The present Ecological Code does not include (for shortness) specific legal acts concerning various types
of natural resources, certain pertinent regulations and technical by-laws.
It is noted that the majority of the technical issues are included in many third-level by-laws of the
environmental legislation that are not covered by the present Ecological Code.
This Ecological Code introduces for the first time the notion of ecological network, in compliance with
the international commitments of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan under “Convention on Biological
Diversity”, Millenium Development Goals, Central Asian Initiative on Sustainable Development,
Environment Strategy for EECCA, and other treaties and documents.
The structure and contents of Ecological Code are dictated by pragmatic considerations. They are
designed to enhance law enforcement efforts and reduce to a minimum difficulties and obstacles
interfering with interdepartmental coordination and approval of changes and amendments being
introduced
In consideration of the above, the approval of this draft of Ecological Code is expected to remove the
existing discordances and duplication, facilitate fulfillment of obligations stipulated by international
agreements, simplify law enforcement, eliminate contradictions, and ensure priority of environmental
issues in the national economy that will promote sustainable development of this country.
General Division
Chapter 1. General provisions
The chapter on general provisions includes 5 articles:
Article 1. Environmental protection legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 2. Basic terms and definitions used in the present Ecological Code.
Article 3. Basic principles of environmental protection.
Article 4. Goals and objectives of environmental protection.
Article 5. Preeminent legal norms.
The present Ecological Code introduces for the first time the notion of elements of ecological networks.
The article on basic principles of environmental protection is focused on the conditions providing for the
sustainable development and adds a new legal norm to the current legislation that lays emphasis on the
establishment of scientifically sound harmonious balance between ecological, economic, and social
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interests of the society and multi-disciplinary approach to the solution of resource-saving and
environmental protection issues.
Chapter 2. Legal relations with an ecological slant
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 6. Objects of legal relations.
Article 7. Subjects of legal relation.
Article 8. Sphere of competence of the government of the Kyrgyz Republic in environmental protection.
Article 9. Sphere of competence of the specially authorized state environmental protection agency of the
Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 10. Sphere of competence of the specially authorized state fish-stock protection agency of the
Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 11. Sphere of competence of the specially authorized state water protection agency of the
Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 12. Sphere of competence of the specially authorized state health care and promotion agency of
the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in environmental protection.
Article 13. Sphere of competence of the specially authorized state agency of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
for production safety supervision in environmental protection.
Article 14. Sphere of competence of the specially authorized state agency of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
for conservation of natural resources.
Article 15. Sphere of competence of the specially authorized state land management agency of the
Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 16. Sphere of competence of the executive state agency of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan for
emergency situations in environmental protection.
Article 17. Sphere of competence of the state agency of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan for veterinary and
phytosanitary control and supervision in environmental protection.
Article 18. Sphere of competence of the state agency of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan for the control of
motor vehicle environmental impacts.
Article 19. Rights and liabilities of executive officers employed in the government bodies of the Republic
of Kyrgyzstan in the sphere of environmental protection.
Article 20. Sphere of competence of local self-government organs in environmental protection. .
Article 21. Rights and responsibilities of non-commercial organization in the sphere of environmental
protection.
Article 22. Rights and responsibilities of citizens in the sphere of environmental protection.
Article 23. Rights and responsibilities of nature users.
Article 24. The state system for ensuring rights to the healthy and favourable environment.
The present chapter definitively formulates the rights an responsibilities of subjects of legal relations,
eliminates duplication of rights, liabilities, and supervising activities of different government bodies with
respect to selected components of the environment. Moreover, it lays a basis for the optimization of
interdepartmental and intersectoral interactions.
Also, this chapter offers the entire set of norms and standards most essential for the management of the
environment.
Chapter 3. Environmental planning and scientific research in the sphere of environmental protection
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 25. Principles of environmental planning.
Article 26. National strategy of environmental security of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 27. State programs of rational nature use and environmental protection.
Article 28. Territorial programs of rational nature use and environmental protection.
Article 29. Ecological studies and their forms.
Article 30. Environmental protection research.
Article 31. Objectives of scientific research in the sphere of environmental protection.
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Article 32. International cooperation in the sphere of environmental protection.
The present chapter considers principles of environmental planning, national strategy of environmental
security, hierarchy and interactions of state and territorial programs and plans for the rational nature use
and environmental protection, and contribution of different sectors to their development and
implementation. Also, much attention is given to scientific research providing a basis for the elaboration
of national and regional programs and plans for the rational use of natural resources and environmental
protection.
Chapter 4. Environmental education and ecological teaching
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 33. General and comprehensive environmental education.
Article 34. Ecological teaching in educational institutions.
Article 35. Environmental management and personnel training in nature protection and ecological
security.
Article 36. Ecological teaching.
This paper offers a scheme for the promotion of ecological culture and professional skills in the field of
environmental protection. Also, it describes a system of mass and comprehensive environmental
education including preschool, general, professional, and higher professional education, post-gradient
training, professional retraining, and advanced professional education as well as dissemination of
environmental knowledge via mass media and through the agency of museums, libraries, cultural centres,
environmental protection bodies, sports and tourist organizations.
Chapter 5. Environmental information
This chapter is based on the principles of the Aarchus Convention and contains the following articles:
Article 37. Environmental information.
Article 38. Rights of access to environmental information.
Article 39. Legal status of environmental information.
Article 40. Subjects of legal relations with reference to environmental information.
Article 41. State fund of environmental information.
Article 42. Information provision.
Article 43. Principles of state policy on providing access to official information.
Article 44. Official information of restricted access.
Article 45. Access to data and materials stored in the State Fund of environmental information.
Article 46. Rights of applicants for environmental information.
Article 47. Duties of environmental information providers.
Article 48. Application for access to official environmental information.
Article 49. Modes of access to official environmental information.
Article 50. Consideration of applications for access to official environmental information.
Article 51. Denial of access to official environmental information.
Article 52. Payment for provision of official environmental information.
Article 53. General principles of the protection of rights to access to environmental information.
Article 54. Out-of-court appealing against the actions of environmental information providers.
Article 55. Appealing about the actions of environmental information providers through legal action.
Article 56. Consequences of infringement upon the rights of access to environmental information.
Article 57. State environmental protection statistics.
The present chapter features basic notions and legal actions relating to the access to information that are
contained in international law acts and various departmental normative legal acts.
Chapter 6. The system of protected natural areas
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This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 58. Ecological network.
Article 59. Basic principles of the establishment and management of ecological network.
Article 60. Functional elements of the ecological network.
Article 61. The system of functional elements of the ecological network.
Article 62. Ecological core areas.
Article 63. Ecological corridors.
Article 64. Buffer zones.
The present chapter introduces for the first time the notion of ecological network to the environmental
legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. This notion is implied by the international commitments of the
Republic of Kyrgyzstan under “Convention on Biological Diversity”, Millenium Development Goals,
Central Asian Initiative on Sustainable Development, Environment Strategy for EECCA, and other
documents and treaties. The ecological network is to be established for the purpose of preservation,
restoration, and maintenance of natural balance among environmental, biological and landscape diversity,
natural and cultural milieu, and for ensuring sustainable use of natural resources. The basis for the
ecological network is constituted by the existing and projected protected natural areas. The basic
principles governing the establishment and management of the ecological network are as follows:
- spatial separation of natural areas and extensively developed lands to ensure their reciprocal
stability and sustainability;
- representativity of the ecological network;
- self-sufficiency and environmental stability of its functional elements;
- differentiated approach assuring that the spatial distribution of individual parts of the ecological
network and their functional regimes match the specific natural and socio-economic features of a
given region;
- formation of the ecological network with regard for the socio-economic developments in the
country.
Chapter 7. Emergency environmental situations
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 65. The uniform state system of prevention and management of emergency environmental
situations.
Article 66. Determination of areas affected by the emergency.
Article 67. Warning and openness of information about emergency environmental situations for the
protection of territories and their population.
Article 68. Basic principles of population and territory protection in emergency environmental situations.
Article 69. Radiation accidents and liquidation of their consequences.
Article 70. Financial support for the management of emergency environmental situations.
The present chapter is focused on coordination of the efforts of state executive authorities to manage
emergency environmental situations for the protection of territories and their population. The uniform
state system of prevention and liquidation of emergency environmental situations is described that
encompasses methods and means at the disposal of management operation bodies, state executive
agencies, organs of local self-government, and organizations authorized to make decisions conducive to
the protection of territories and their population from emergency environmental situations.
Chapter 8. International cooperation for environmental protection
This chapter contains the following articles:
Article 71. Principles of international cooperation in the sphere of environmental protection.
Article 72. International cooperation activities in the field of environmental protection.
Article 73. Warning about potential transboundary harmful impacts on the environment.
Article 74. International action plans for the emergency measures to manage environmental pollution.
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Article 75. International conventions and agreements on environmental protection.
Article 76. Observance of the international agreements signed by the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 77. Fulfillment of obligations of the Kyrgyz Republic as a party of international agreements on
environmental protection.
Article 78. Measures to be taken in the event of delinquencies that led to the breach of an international
agreement signed by the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Article 79. Measures to be taken in the event of delinquencies that led to the breach of the international
agreements signed by the Kyrgyz Republic by their other parties.
The present chapter describes the main principles of international cooperation in the field of
environmental protection based on the international commitments of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan pursuant
to the following international treaties:
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"Convention on the Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context";
"On Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters";
Basel Convention "On the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
Their Disposal";
Rotterdam Convention "On the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade";
"Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution”;
"Convention on Biological Diversity";
"UN Frame Convention of climate Changes”; and
agreements on environmental protection concluded between CIS and between Central Asian
countries.
Special Division
Chapter 9. Licenses and other law-promulgating acts
This paper consists of the following articles:
Article 80. Licenses and other law-promulgating acts (issuing state complex nature use permits).
Article 81. Licensing procedure.
Article 82. Responsibility for carrying out licensed activity with a violation of the license legislation.
Article 83. State complex nature use permit.
Article 84. Forms of nature use requiring special permission.
Article 85. Procedure for issuing nature use permits.
Article 86. Documents to be submitted by a permit seeker.
Article 87. Time limits for the submission of applications for nature use permits, issuing and approval
thereof.
Article 88. Period of validity of nature use permits.
Article 89. Altered conditions of environmental impact, revocation of nature use permits.
The quality of nature use activities is related to the efficiency of measures taken to reduce emission and
discharge of polluting substances and hazardous wastes; to promote environmental conservation at large.
The present chapter is aimed at enhancing the nature use efficiency by such simple means as the
establishment of ecological norms and standards conducive to the reduction of environmental pollution.
Current economic deregulation aimed at stimulating economic activity and enhancing competing strength
is paralleled by deregulation of ecological norms. Economic stimulation and improvement of the quality
of the environment require that economic norms be loosened, the number of permissive documents
reduced, and ecological norms strengthened. This chapter describes all types of law-promulgating acts
pertinent to the nature use. The introduction of the "common window" principle makes it possible to
decrease the number of permissive documents issued to a nature user, lessen corruptive influences in
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environmental regulation, and ease both burden on nature protection authorities and pressure on objects
under their control.
Chapter 10. Ecological norm-setting, standardization and certification
This chapter describes basic principles of ecological norm-setting, brings together all norms, standards,
and certificates included in a variety of normative legal acts of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, duplicated
and mutually exclusive norms being omitted.
Article 90. Main goals and objectives of ecological norm-setting.
Article 91 Principles of norm-setting for environmental protection.
Article 92. Major types of ecological norms.
Article 93. Environmental quality standards.
Article 94. Hygienic environmental standards.
Article 95. Maximum permissible impacts on the environment.
Article 96. Norms of industrial impact on the environment.
Article 97. Ecosystem quality standards.
Article 98. Buffer, sanitary, and other protective zones.
Article 99. Procedures for the elaboration and approval of maximum permissible impacts on the
environment.
Article 100. Standards for sanitary and other protective zones.
Article 101. Objects of standardization in environmental protection.
Article 102. Objects of certification in environmental protection.
Article 103. Standardization in environmental protection.
Article 104. Certification in environmental protection.
Article 105. Promotion of international standardization and certification.
Chapter 11. Assessment of the influence on the environment
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 106. Obligatory assessment of the influence on the environment (AIE)
Article 107. Types of assessment of environmental impacts.
Article 108. Procedure of assessment of environmental impacts.
Article 109. Rules of assessment of environmental impacts.
Article 110. Documentation of assessment of environmental impacts.
Article 111. Methodological basis of assessment of environmental impacts.
The present paper takes into consideration the national environmental legislation and specific conditions
of practical assessment of the influence on the environment (AIE) in this country as well as AIE
documentation approved by the World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
and the country's commitments under international agreements ratified by the Republic of Kyrgyzstan:
- "Convention on the Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context" and
- "On Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters".
Chapter 12.
Environmental impact assessment
This chapter is a sort of compilation of the laws "On environmental impact assessment" and "On
environmental protection", environmental impact assessment regulations, and practical experience in
this sphere; it consists of the following articles:
Article 112. Environmental impact assessment and its forms.
Article 113. Goals and objectives of environmental impact assessment.
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Article 114. Principles of environmental impact assessment.
Article 115. Specially authorized state agencies of environmental impact assessment.
Article 116. Objects of state environmental impact assessment.
Article 117. The use of AIE materials in practical environmental impact assessment.
Article 118. Submission of documentation of state environmental impact assessment.
Article 119. Procedure of state environmental impact assessment.
Article 120. Invitation of external experts for state environmental impact assessment.
Article 121. Public environmental impact assessment.
Article 122. Settlement of disputes arising in state environmental impact assessment.
Article 123. Financial support of state environmental impact assessment.
Article 124. Ecological requirements to projecting, placement, construction, reconstruction, and
commissioning of enterprises, buildings, and other facilities.
Article 125. Ecological requirements to planning and developing inhabited localities.
Article 126. Findings of state environmental impact assessment.
Environmental impact assessment is a process whereby specialists studying documents and materials of
administrative, economic, financial, and other activities being planned collect data for making decision on
the permissibility of these activities in the interests of the state and society in the context of rational
nature use and environmental protection. Environmental impact assessment is conducted to prevent
possible adverse effects of economic and other activities on the environment.
Both state and public environmental impact assessments are performed in the Kyrgyz Republic .
Chapter 13. Environmental monitoring
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 127. Types of environmental monitoring.
Article 128. Principles of environmental monitoring.
Article 129. Main goals and objectives of environmental monitoring.
Article 130. System and structure of environmental monitoring.
Article 131. National state system of monitoring the environment and natural resources.
Article 132. Environmental monitoring agencies.
Article 133. Requirements to and objects of environmental monitoring.
Article 134. Financial support of environmental monitoring.
Article 135. Uniformity and compatibility of measuring devices.
Article 136. International cooperation in the sphere of environmental monitoring.
The present paper deals with the commitments on information provision in the framework of the
international agreements ratified by the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and takes into consideration practical
experience in the sphere of environmental monitoring. The principal objectives of monitoring are
informational support for the management of the environment and the maintenance of ecological security
at the country's territory, provision of general and emergency information to the public and interested
organizations, and prognostication of possible environmental changes.
State and production environmental monitoring is performed in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Chapter 14. Environmental control and inspection
This chapter contains the following articles:
Article 137. Goals and objectives of control over environmental protection and rational nature use.
Article 138. Forms of environmental control and inspection.
Article 139. Authorized state agencies exercising control and inspection of environmental protection and
rational use of natural resources.
Article 140. Functions of the authorized state agency exercising control and inspection of environmental
protection and rational use of natural resources.
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------???------ 140a. Environmental executive officers exercising state control and inspection of
environmental protection and rational use of natural resources.
Article 141. Rights of environmental executive officers exercising state control and inspection of
environmental protection and rational use of natural resources.
Article 142. Liabilities of environmental executive officers exercising state control and inspection of
environmental protection and rational use of natural resources.
Article 143. Inspection secret.
Article 144. Inspection of environmental protection activities and rational use of natural resources.
Article 145. Time and periodicity of inspection of environmental protection activities and rational use of
natural resources.
Article 146. Rationale for the inspection of environmental protection activities and rational use of natural
resources.
Article 147. Procedure for the inspection of environmental protection activities and rational use of
natural resources.
Article 148. Decision-making based on the results of inspection of environmental protection activities
and rational use of natural resources.
Article 149. Consideration of complaints of nature users with respect to the results of inspection of their
environmental protection activities and rational use of natural resources.
Article 150. Procedure for appealing by nature users against the action (inaction) of executive officers
exercising state control and inspection of environmental protection activities and rational use of natural
resources.
Article 151. Liabilities of environmental executive officers for violation of environmental protection
legislation.
Article 152. General procedure for the application of sanctions based on the findings of inspection of
environmental protection activities and rational use of natural resources.
Article 153. Goals and objectives of production environmental control and inspection.
Article 154. Requirements to production environmental control and inspection.
Article 155. Procedures for production environmental control and inspection.
Article 156. Objects of production environmental control and inspection.
Article 157. State supervision of production environmental control and inspection.
Article 158. Public environmental control and inspection.
Article 159. Rights and responsibilities of citizens and non-commercial organizations related to
environmental control and inspection.
Article 160. Procedure of public environmental control and inspection.
Article 161. Interplay of authorized state agencies of environmental control and inspection and noncommercial organizations in conducting environmental inspection.
Article 162. Findings of public environmental control and inspection.
Article 163. Interaction between authorized state agencies of environmental control and inspection, law
enforcement bodies, custom and excise offices, tax authorities, and other government organs of the
Kyrgyz Republic .
This chapter defines subjects exercising control of environmental protection and rational nature use, their
functions, and interactions.
Control in the sphere of environmental protection (environmental control) is exercised for the promotion
of environmental law enforcement by authorized state agencies of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, organs of
local self-government, juridical and physical persons including fulfillment of legal norms and normative
documents pertaining to environmental protection and ecological security.
Environmental control in the Kyrgyz Republic is exercised through the mechanisms of state, production,
and public inspection.
Chapter 15. Economic regulation, instruments and mechanisms of nature use
This chapter includes the following articles:
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Article 164. Goals of application of economic mechanisms of nature use.
Article 165. Objectives of application of economic mechanisms of nature use.
Article 166. Categories of economic instruments.
Article 167. Payment for environmental pollution.
Article 168. Payment for the use of natural resources.
Article 169. Payment for the damage to the environment.
Article 170. Payment for non-observance of the environmental protection legislation.
Article 171. Product taxation.
Article 172. Subsidies.
Article 173. Deposit refund system.
Article 174. Excise taxation.
Article 175. Quota trade.
Article 176. Forms of economic stimulation.
Article 177. State coverage insurance of foreign loans.
Article 178. Allocation of environmental grants.
Article 179. Tax benefits and other advantages.
Article 180. Special taxation.
Article 181. Economic accounting and reporting with an ecological slant.
Article 182. Responsibilities of authorized state agencies in the sphere of economic accounting with
reference to environmental protection.
Article 183. Liabilities of nature users in the sphere of economic accounting with reference to
environmental protection.
Article 184. Environmental protection measures.
Article 185. Financial support of environmental protection measures.
“Product taxation” is an innovative norm for the environmental legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
It will hopefully promote integration of environmental protection issues into economy by shifting the tax
burden from the pay-roll fund to ecologically hazardous activities. This instrument implies taxation of
selected raw, intermediate, and finished materials and products that may prove harmful for the
environment.
“Subsidies” are an economic instrument facilitating provision and consumption of ecologically friendly
products and services in the Kyrgyz Republic .
Subsidies include any form of financial support for producers of environmental pollution or users of
natural resources aimed at encouraging reduction or modification of their ecologically harmful activities.
“The deposit refund system” may be used to prevent environmental pollution by stimulating the use and
manufacture of returnable products, secondary waste utilization and reprocessing, disposal of
unconsumed goods or redundant materials in special collection systems, and elimination of negative
consequences of economic activities.
The deposit refund system is a form of prepayment by the depositor for refunding losses or expenses
incurred by the state for the restoration of the affected environment and the elimination of the inflicted
damages.
“Quota trade” - users of natural resources may exchange, based on contractual obligations, legallybinding commitments to reduce their collective pollutant emission provided such obligations are equally
beneficial for the environment welfare. The equal value of the obligations to reduce emission of
pollutants is confirmed by the acknowledged certificate issued by a specially authorized agency. The
procedure for quota exchange with a view to reducing pollutant emission is established by the
government of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
In addition, the present chapter describes various forms of economic stimulation employed in the
Republic of Kyrgyzstan for the promotion of environmental protection. These are
- state coverage insurance of foreign loans,
- allocation of environmental grants,
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establishment of tax benefits to users of natural resources for the introduction of low-waste
technologies and processes, utilization of secondary resources, and other activities meeting the
requirements of environmental welfare, and
introduction of special targeted taxation on the manufacture of environmentally harmful materials
or the production of such materials using ecologically unsafe technologies.
Chapter 16. Ecological insurance
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 186. Forms of ecological insurance.
Article 187. Compulsory ecological insurance.
Article 188. Voluntary ecological insurance.
Article 189. Sphere and object of ecological insurance.
Article 190. Insurance event.
Article 191. Persons whose civil liability is subject to obligatory ecological insurance.
Article 192. Contract of obligatory ecological insurance and procedure of its conclusion.
Article 193. Term of the contract of obligatory ecological insurance.
Article 194. Termination of the contract of obligatory ecological insurance.
Article 195. Prescheduled termination of the contract of obligatory ecological insurance.
Article 196. Rights and liabilities of the insured.
Article 197. Rights and liabilities of the insurer.
Article 198. Rights of the wronged person.
Article 199. Terms and procedure of payment of the insurance premium.
Article 200. Performance of ecological audit.
Article 201. General conditions of insurance indemnity.
Article 202. Reasons for the exemption of the insurer from payment.
The law “On environmental protection” uses the term “ecological insurance” even though the legislation
of the Kyrgyz Republic does not envisage any mechanism for the realization of this legal norm. The
present paper describes all sorts of legal relations pertaining to ecological insurance.
State coverage insurance of the life, health, and pecuniary interests of the people of the Kyrgyz Republic
is realized through the mechanisms of obligatory and voluntary ecological insurance of juridical and
physical persons, objects of their property, and incomes to protect thereof in the event of an
environmental disaster, accident or catastrophe as well as through insurance of the responsibility for a
harmful influence on the environment. Ecological insurance may be either compulsory or voluntary.
Chapter 17. Ecological audit
This chapter describes all legal relations encountered in ecological audit. These are innovative norms for
the environmental protection legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The acting law “On
environmental protection” contains a single article concerning ecological audit while the national
legislation at large does not envisage any mechanism for the realization of the given legal norm. The
present paper includes the following articles:
Article 203. Ecological audit.
Article 204. Main goals, objectives, and principles of ecological audit.
Article 205. Procedure of ecological audit of an object.
Article 206. Resolution of environmental issues associated with enterprise privatization.
Article 207. Rights of ecological auditors and agencies performing ecological audit.
Article 208. Liabilities of ecological auditors and agencies performing ecological audit.
Article 209. Attestation of ecological auditors.
Article 210. Limitation of the ecological auditor’s rights.
Article 211. Rights of the audited subject.
Article 212. Responsibilities of the audited subject.
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Ecological audit establishes mechanisms for the exposure, analysis, and assessment of current changes in
a given component of the environment responsible for its degradation or deterioration of living conditions
of the population immediately related to the activity of the audited object.
Ecological audit is
- a means of the enterprise’s self-control over environmental consequences of its economic activity
with a view to preventing and correcting violation of the environmental protection legislation and
normatives and determining potential risks of environmental pollution from the preceding
activities;
- its finding provides a basis for the decisions concerning further activity of the enterprise at a
given territory (maintenance of the previous working regime, reorganization of production
activity, reconstruction, modernization, conservation, closing down certain shops, production
sectors or the entire enterprise).
Chapter 18. Access to genetic and biological resources
This chapter lays emphasis on the regulation of the international commitments of this country in the
framework of WTO agreements, “Convention on Biological Diversity”, and Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety; it includes the following articles:
Article 213. The use of genetic and biological resources.
Article 214. General and special use of biological resources.
Article 215. The use of biological resources for scientific, cultural, educational, recreational and aesthetic
purposes.
Article 216. Limitation on the use of genetic and biological resources.
Article 217. Conservation of biological resources in the course of application, storage, and transportation
of pesticides, growth stimulants, mineral fertilizers, and similar materials.
Article 218. Protection of genetic and biological resources from adverse effects of biotechnological
products.
Article 219. Violation of the existing regulations on the handling of objects of flora and fauna or products
thereof.
This chapter underscores the right of local communities to have access to genetic resources and derive
benefits from them. Citizens of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan have the right to collectively utilize objects
of flora and fauna at the country’s territory, on equal grounds and according to the established procedures
and relevant legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic, and to derive benefits from the commercial and other
forms of exploitation of these objects. Such collective use is realized on the conditions mutually
coordinated between the organs of local self-government and the local communities at the territories
providing the said resources.
Benefits obtained by organs of local self-government and local communities from commercial and other
forms of exploitation of genetic and biological resources must be directed, in accordance with the
established procedures, towards the national and regional funds of environmental protection to be used for
the protection, conservation, and rehabilitation of objects of flora and fauna, communities they form, and
their natural habitats; for the creation and keeping of the state cadastre, for ecosystem monitoring, and for
the support of protected natural areas. The common use of biological resources is allowed free of charge,
without removal of objects of flora and fauna from their natural habitats, and does not require any special
permit.
Special use of biological resources with their removal (harvesting, collection etc,) from the natural milieu
is licensed by state environmental agencies or other authorized organs and needs to be paid for.
The special use of biological resources is regulated by the established standards, regulations, limits, and
norms supplemented by the system of measures for the conservation and reproduction of objects of flora
and fauna.
Chapter 19. Environmental security requirements
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The present paper lays emphasis on the regulation of international commitments of this country in the
framework of WTO agreements, “Convention on Biological Diversity”, “Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora”, and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; it includes
the following articles:
Article 220. Import and export of objects.
Article 221. Control over import and export of objects.
Article 222. Plant quarantine.
Article 223. Risk assessment.
Chapter 20. Responsibility for environmental harm and settlement of environmental protection disputes
This chapter includes the following articles:
Article 224. Liabilities for environmental harm.
Article 225. Liabilities for the infliction of damage to the environment.
Article 226. Disciplinary liability for violation of environmental legislation.
Article 227. Criminal liability for violation of environmental legislation.
Article 228. Compensation of harms caused as a result of violation of environmental legislation.
Article 229. Procedure for the compensation of harms inflicted to the environment as a result of violation
of environmental protection legislation.
Article 230. Compensation of harms caused to human health and property as a result of violation of
environmental protection legislation.
Article 231. Introduction of proposals to limit, suspend or terminate activities of juridical or physical
persons if such violate environmental protection legislation.
Article 232. Settlement of environmental protection disputes.
Juridical and physical persons guilty of infliction of environmental harm as well as subjects of legal
relations whose action or inaction caused deterioration of the environment or violated rights and interests
in the sphere of environmental conservation and nature use protected by the law are liable to material,
disciplinary, administrative or criminal responsibility in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz
Republic .
Calling to disciplinary, administrative or criminal account does not release a guilty person from
compensation of the damage inflicted to the environment.
Disputes in the sphere of environmental protection are settled through legal action, in accordance with the
legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and norms of international law.
The present chapter simplifies practical law enforcement by bringing together, in a single legal act, all
forms of responsibilities and procedures for compensation of environmental harms and violation of
ecological rights of citizens protected by the legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
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