In early October, Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers proposed imposing a temporary ban on the import of apples into the country until February 2027. The proposal was up for public discussion until October 23, with the European Union weighing in against the measure. On October 27 local media reported that Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev had signed the resolution.

Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers explained the temporary import ban as necessary to support the country’s agricultural sector and ensure the “timely sale of the 2026 apple harvest.” 

Kyrgyzstan has more than 26,000 hectares of apple orchards, and expects a harvest of more than 179,000 tons this year. In justifying the temporary ban, the Cabinet of Ministers pointed to growing imports of foreign apples and declining exports of Kyrgyz apples. 

In 2024, the Cabinet stated, apple imports totaled more than 14,000 tons; in 2025 they amounted to just over 2,900 tons. But in the first eight months of 2026, from January to August, Kyrgyzstan had imported nearly 6,500 tons of apples, more than twice the 2025 total. These apples originated mostly in Poland (3,554 tons), China (1,696 tons), and Uzbekistan (860 tons).

At the same time, Kyrgyz apple exports were down 13 percent in the first eight months of 2026, over the 2025 data. “The decline in export shipments increases the importance of the domestic market for the sale of apples grown within the country,” the Cabinet argued in its justification for the resolution. “An influx of imported apples during the season when domestic supply is at its peak can intensify competition within the domestic market.”

The European Union submitted a comment on the resolution, expressing “serious concerns” regarding the proposed ban. “It is all the more concerning that the import ban appears to be intended as a measure to support the domestic producers during the harvest, whereas under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules such measures are to be invoked only in exceptional circumstances and subject to very strict criteria.”

Kyrgyzstan has been a member of the WTO since December 1998. It was the first Central Asian country to join, followed by Tajikistan in 2013 and Kazakhstan in 2015. Uzbekistan started down the WTO path in 1994 but dithered for decades before resuming talks in 2020. Last year Uzbek officials laid out 2026 as the target to finally accede, but a March 2026 goal post passed quietly by. Uzbek officials reaffirmed their goal to accede in 2026 during a Working Party meeting in July.

In its comment on the then-draft Kyrgyz resolution, the EU argued that “the sudden introduction of import restrictions would send a negative signal not only to EU apple exporters, but to all EU traders potentially interested in the market of the Kyrgyz Republic.” 

The EU noted that it is among Kyrgyzstan’s largest trade and investment partners, “with our Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) underpinning this relationship.” The PCA, the EU comment continued, “provides that goods originating in the EU shall be imported into the Kyrgyz Republic free of all quantitative restrictions…”

While apples hold special significant in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – the name of Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, comes from the Kazakh word for apple, алма – it’s not just apples Bishkek is worried about. On October 16, First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Daniyar Amangeldiev signed a resolution banning the import of potatoes for six months.

It’s not clear whether the EU will take its complaints to the WTO, though that threat certainly is conveyed by its comments on the apple ban.