BUSINESS ASKS TO STOP EXPERIMENTS WITH DIGITAL LABELING

BUSINESS ASKS TO STOP EXPERIMENTS WITH DIGITAL LABELING

BUSINESS ASKS TO STOP EXPERIMENTS WITH DIGITAL LABELING
The all-Russian experiment with mandatory labeling of goods, called "Honest sign", which started in August 2016, is being increasingly criticized by business representatives.  Some criticize the amount of expenses (about 300 billion rubles) that consumers will have to pay in order to have a 60-kopeck unique code placed on each food product.  Others say that the mark itself does not yet serve as a guarantee of confirmation of the quality of the product declared on the package.

We should remind our readers that at the will of the authorities, the “Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies”(CDAT) became the operator of the national system.  The responsibilities of the organization include the registration of manufacturers and importers, to whom a unique code for each product packaging for 60 kopecks (including 10 kopecks of VAT) is subsequently given.
One of the first participants in the experiment were the manufacturers of fur products.
They had to purchase additional equipment, bear the cost of marking and training employees.  Now we are talking about other segments of the market.

Manufacturers of milk and medicines have been subject to mandatory labeling requirements since 2019.  The authorities plan to introduce mandatory labeling for all groups of goods by 2024.  But now these plans need to be adjusted in connection with the current geopolitical situation.

Experts note that the national labeling system has become heavily dependent on foreign technologies.  Technical requirements are based on license agreements with the Swiss company Inexto.  At the same time, representatives of the CDAT note that the equipment is not under sanctions, and the stocks of consumables (ink, labels) are sufficient.  But it is hardly possible to predict what terms can be expected here, and no one needs additional risks.

According to the telegram channel “TATULOVA.com”, in 2021 the CRPT spent about 1 billion rubles on promotion in the press and various telegram channels.  This concerned not only the direct promotion of the digital marking system, but also the placement of publications by "public figures" about the support of the experiment by consumers.

At the same time, according to the CRPT itself, the "Honest sign" mobile app was installed by only 6 million people who checked 75 million goods for the whole period of the experiment.
Violations were found only in 82 thousand cases (one case per thousand checks).
Producers of alcoholic beverages and restaurateurs appealed to the head of the Government of the Russian Federation on February 8 with a request to exclude digital marking in these industries.  The introduction of this measure will only increase the financial burden and cause unreasonable price increases, while illegal sellers will ultimately only benefit from the complexity of the processes for those who conduct business legally.

In mid-March 2022, TASS reported that the Ministry of Industry and Trade made a decision not to subject new groups of goods to mandatory labeling.  It was also decided to postpone the mandatory requirements for voluntary experiments in time to more remote periods.

On March 29, manufacturers and sellers of basic food products (“Soyuzmoloko”, “Soyuznapitki”, “Oil and Fat Union”, “Union of Producers of Alcoholic Drinks”) sent a request to the Government to suspend the experiment.  According to Izvestia, the reason for the appeal was the high cost, which was not justified by the results of the experiment.

22.04.2022