Lace undies policy in Kazakhstan

It is not exactly a policy, but rather a ban. Production, import and sales of lace undies have been prohibited by the Custom Union. Kazakhstan, being a member of the Union along with Russia and Belarus, now has to obey the regulations concerning lace undies. As ridiculous as it sounds, the Custom Union has its reasoning. Last Friday, the Minister for Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Committee Valery Koreshkov said that the goods do not pass the Custom Union regulations and must be banned, Tengrinews reports citing the Echo Moscow radio. The regulations Koreshkov referred to concern hydroscopic property of fabric, which basically means its water-absorbing quality. In case of undies it has to be at 6%. Synthetic materials such as lace are under 6%. Earlier, the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Russia was trying to lift the lace undies ban. The question is if the lingerie stores in the countries are aware of the ban on lace undies why the stock has not changed yet? The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) are puzzled at the media’s reaction on the ban of lace underwear. The Commission members noted that the regulation came into effect on July 1, 2012. The regulation bans selling underwear that does not meet safety measures. Such measure is in effect in many CIS countries including Kazakhstan starting from 2003. The press office of the EEC explained that all commission members approved the technical regulation on December 9, 2011. The regulation will come in force on July 1, 2014. The EEC gave a transition period, so that all the countries and business representatives can come to an agreement over lace undies ban. The EEC has also pointed out that the CIS countries had adopted hydroscopic property regulations back in 2003. Moreover, it does not concern only undies, but undergarment in general, bedding and swim wear. Then why all the fuss? Maybe because sexy goods sell better. By Gyuzel Kamalova