Kazakhstan’s transition from the ‘Astana-1’ customs system to the new ‘Keden’ platform has become one of the largest digital reforms in recent years. The goal is clear: to create a national, more flexible and manageable solution. However, in practice, businesses have already encountered the fact that ‘Keden’ is at an early stage of development and currently operates unstably.
The system is immature, its modules are still being refined, and technical notifications about failures or limitations appear regularly. This directly affects foreign trade participants: delays in declaration registration, errors in transit processing, increased cargo release times. This is particularly sensitive for urgent deliveries and air transportation.
Therefore, the key question today is not simply to implement ‘Keden,’ but to make this transition gradual. Parallel operation of both systems allows:
• minimizing downtime risks
• testing new formats and integrations
• training customs and broker specialists
• maintaining clearance stability during peak periods
Abrupt abandonment of ‘Astana-1’ without full readiness of ‘Keden’ may lead to accumulation of unprocessed declarations, reduced checkpoint capacity, and increased business costs. Gradual implementation is the only safe scenario that allows the state and the market to navigate the transition period without losses.
For companies, it is important to plan clearance in advance, monitor notifications from the Customs Control Committee, maintain communication with customs representatives, and account for possible delays in logistics chains.
