Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Anton Alikhanov: We are fighting phantom enterprises.
In an interview with RIA Novosti, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov spoke about how pseudo-Russian brands are identified, what measures the state is introducing to ensure product safety in schools and kindergartens, and the fight against illegal goods.
Anton Alikhanov (photo: Ministry of Industry and Trade)
A. Veselova: Anton Andreevich, what is the situation with illegal turnover of products in Russia today?
A. Alikhanov: I would like to start by saying that ten years ago, by decision of the president, a state commission was created to combat illegal turnover of industrial products. It became the main coordinating link in the comprehensive work in the fight against the shadow market. The activities of all industry and regulatory bodies at the federal level are linked through it.
Various tools are used to reduce the circulation of illegal products. But the most effective has become the digital marking and traceability system of goods “Honest Sign”.
This direction is already being implemented in all EAEU countries and in Uzbekistan. In Russia, 31 product categories are monitored from the conveyor to the consumer on a mandatory basis, with 16 being subject to an experiment. The government is also considering further expansion of the system to various products, especially in the food industry and industrial goods. The Honest Sign mobile application is used by almost 28 million consumers, they have checked more than 300 million products and identified 240 thousand violations. All complaints are sent to regulatory authorities.
A. Veselova: What effect on the economy has been recorded in the country from the introduction of labeling?
A. Alikhanov: According to the Federal Tax Service, over the past five years the economic effect has amounted to 1.2 trillion rubles in the form of tax and other revenues to budgets at all levels. More than half of this amount was achieved by whitening the tobacco market – 627 billion rubles. The results in other product groups are also noticeable. In dairy products – 148 billion rubles, in light industry – 143 billion rubles, in the footwear segment – 85 billion rubles, in perfumery – 35 billion rubles.
In addition to increasing state revenues, legal businesses earned an additional 687 billion rubles by increasing their market share. And according to Rosstat data, the profitability of sales has increased for all bona fide market participants. Since the launch of mandatory labeling by 2023, tobacco products have increased by 17.9%, packaged water by 13.1%, footwear by 5.7%, and dairy products by 3.2%. I would like to note that these effects have been achieved without a noticeable impact on the final price for the consumer. According to the Research Institute of the Ministry of Finance, the share of labeling in the cost price is no more than 1%.
A. Veselova: Since April 2024, a permit regime has been in effect for a number of goods in Russia, which checks the quality of the goods through a special QR code; if the product is of poor quality, the system will not allow the buyer to purchase it. How effective is this mechanism? How does the regime protect consumers?
A. Alikhanov: Due to the introduction of a permit regime at store checkouts, sales of 1.2 billion low-quality or illegal goods have been blocked. Among them: beer – 299 million units, milk – 243 million, tobacco – 311 million, in the light industry – 187 million, soft drinks – 110 million. This system already applies to 16 groups of goods and will be expanded this year to non-alcoholic beer, caviar, veterinary drugs, technical rehabilitation equipment and bicycles.
The labeling system allows for batches of unsafe products to be blocked within an hour by decision of regulatory authorities. For example, Rospotrebnadzor, based on research, did this proactively with respect to six million dietary supplements across the country with dangerous levels of lithium, melatonin, and simethicone. Similarly, due to a poisoning incident, sales of a batch of 2.5 million bottles of water were promptly stopped. Thus, we now have a mechanism for quickly stopping sales of products whose quality and safety are in doubt.
It is important that we not only control the products themselves, but also close illegal production facilities, in particular 56 tobacco factories, using control bodies. At the same time, many enterprises left the shadow sector and began to operate according to the law. This is how more than 550 “new” water producers appeared, the number of legal importers of dietary supplements increased tenfold and those who produce them tripled.
A. Veselova: What is happening now in the sphere of state control over industrial products?
A. Alikhanov: State control is one of the key mechanisms for consumer protection. It ensures quality control and product safety in accordance with established requirements at all stages – during production, delivery and circulation.
Today, the safety of certain types of products is confirmed by a certificate or declaration, while there is no further state control over such products. That is, there may be cases when an unscrupulous manufacturer provides the laboratory with a so-called “golden sample” that fully complies with the requirements. This is how he receives a certificate. And the product goes to the market under this certificate, but it does not comply with the requirements. As a result, unsafe products may end up on the shelf.
A. Veselova: Are you developing additional mechanisms to protect consumers in order to prevent unsafe products from entering the market?
A. Alikhanov: We have developed a set of measures with the Ministry of Economic Development. First of all, these are changes to the legislation to restore state control over certain types of industrial products – I believe that it will be effective. This is confirmed by the experiment that Rosstandart is conducting on certain types of construction products and materials. We are talking about cable products, various types of cement, construction and concrete mixtures, as well as heating convectors and radiators. Over two thousand control measures have already been carried out in a year of the experiment.
According to the inspection results, 57% of cases revealed violations of product quality requirements. Such unsafe products are recalled from the market. For example, in St. Petersburg, about 6 thousand tons of dry construction mixtures worth a total of about 104 million rubles were withdrawn from circulation. And such cases are not isolated.
Another significant initiative in this direction was introduced by the State Duma deputies. They proposed to legislatively enshrine the regulation of technical conditions, according to which manufacturers often release their products. We fully support this approach.
A. Veselova: What is the difference between technical conditions and technical regulations? What effect do you expect from fixing technical conditions?
A. Alikhanov: Technical conditions today are a non-public document in which the manufacturer himself defines the requirements for his products. Formally, they should not be lower than the requirements of technical regulations. But technical regulations establish only minimum safety requirements and do not affect quality parameters. Therefore, the requirements of technical conditions may be lower than GOSTs. A simple example: if a manufacturer puts saury in a can labeled “kilka”, this may not violate safety standards or technical conditions. But it absolutely does not meet consumer expectations and, most importantly, violates GOST requirements.
We are confident that the removal of technical specifications from the unregulated zone will increase transparency and ensure fair competition. In addition, it will involve bona fide manufacturers in the national standardization process. Ultimately, this will have a positive effect on the quality of products released into circulation and will increase consumer confidence.
A. Veselova: What additional measures are being taken to protect products from possible attempts at counterfeiting?
A. Alikhanov: We conducted an experiment with the Ministry of Economic Development and the CRPT, following which the government adopted Resolution No. 837, which comes into force on September 1. It strengthens control not only over the availability, but also the content of permits for goods in the labeling system. This will allow us to confirm their relevance and compliance with the declared products. If the documents do not pass the check, the products will not be allowed on the market.
In addition, a ban on sales at the checkout will be introduced if the permits are declared invalid after the products have been put into circulation. We are currently verifying the contents of the documents with the state registers of Rosaccreditation and Rospotrebnadzor. In the future, we will expand the array of data on the products themselves and whether the company has the right to produce them. We are discussing this decision with the member countries of the association and expect a positive decision from the Eurasian Economic Commission.
A. Veselova: How does the ministry combat pseudo-Russian brands? How acute is this issue today?
A. Alikhanov: We are conducting an experiment to identify such manufacturers and phantom enterprises. For example, more than 2.8 thousand shoe manufacturers are registered in the marking system, of which almost 470 are in Moscow. If the system reveals, based on risk indicators, that the activities of such companies deviate from the norm and raise suspicions, then representatives of the CRPT and Rospotrebnadzor conduct an on-site inspection. In fact, they determine whether there is real production or just a legal entity that legalizes illegal products.
The first results showed that 92% of inspections of footwear, consumer goods and dietary supplements were fake enterprises. Their addresses were found to be vacant lots, residential buildings or abandoned buildings. These companies tried to “legalize” products that did not correspond to the declared documents. In some cases, there is reason to believe that these are imports that are registered as products of Russian origin in order to evade customs duties and control.
Based on the results of the experiment, a mechanism was developed to limit the issuance of marking codes to such legal entities and block their products. Before the traceability system appeared, this was impossible to do. For now, we have extended this algorithm to the least regulated industries – footwear, light industry, perfumery, tires and dietary supplements. Then we will cover other product categories.
A. Veselova: Anton Andreevich, there was information on the Internet about the incorrect operation of the marking system in case of unstable Internet operation? Do you know about this, does such a problem really exist?
A. Alikhanov: Since March 1, 2025, an offline mode has been introduced for a number of product groups that require mandatory labeling, which allows checking the product even without the Internet. To do this, a special local module of the system is installed at the checkout, into which a database of labeled products is loaded. When attempting to make a sale, the system first accesses the online database, and if the check fails, for example, due to the lack of Internet, it loads data from the local module. Thus, the system ensures correct operation even during temporary Internet problems.
A. Veselova: Today, more and more people use marketplaces, but it is difficult to check the quality of goods there. What measures do you plan to take in connection with counterfeit products on marketplaces?
A. Alikhanov: In our opinion, it is necessary to strengthen control over marketplaces in order to exclude violations when selling marked goods on the Internet. The draft law “On the platform economy” provides for the obligations of trading platforms to check the registration of the seller, the product and its code in the marking system. If any of these criteria are not met, the offer should not be reflected in the buyer’s search. While such requirements have not yet been enshrined in law, CRPT has entered into agreements with the largest marketplaces: Yandex, Wildberries, SberMegaMarket, Samokat, Ozon, AliExpress and Russian Post. These online platforms have undertaken to independently check customer complaints received through the Honest Sign application and take action against violators. According to the marking system, 95% of complaints were confirmed. In relation to a third of them, marketplaces applied sanctions: fines, blocking goods or warnings. For the rest, sellers received notifications demanding that they eliminate the violations.
A. Veselova: Today, goods from the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union cross customs under a simplified regime. There are frequent cases where goods illegally enter one of these countries and then travel to Russia. Is the Ministry working on measures to strengthen control in such cases?
A. Alikhanov: Our country is the largest market in the EAEU and, of course, there are cases that you mentioned. Often these goods then end up, for example, in the fake production facilities that I mentioned earlier.
To solve the problem, it is necessary, firstly, to harmonize the list of goods that are subject to mandatory labeling. That is, the nomenclature must be uniform in all EAEU countries. This is what we are discussing with our colleagues.
Secondly, it is necessary to ensure regular verification of information from the labeling system with data from the EAEU member states on goods sent to Russia. This also concerns the verification of mirror customs statistics and the country of origin of the goods.
A. Veselova: What effect do you expect from the experiment to control the supply of unsafe and low-quality food products to social institutions?
A. Alikhanov: With the introduction of a permit regime at cash registers and the integration of the marking system with Mercury, counterfeit products were blocked from entering stores. But we see that dubious products have begun to appear in schools and hospitals where there are no cash registers.
In order to set a barrier for it, at the end of last year, we decided at the state commission to start an experiment in the labeling system to control the supply of food products to the social sphere. So far, it covers several regions – Krasnodar, Perm, Stavropol and Khabarovsk Territories, Moscow and Novosibirsk Regions, St. Petersburg. We will complete it by September, having created criteria and a mechanism for stopping this practice. The experiment affects packaged water and dairy products, which are subject to labeling. In the near future, we will make such control mandatory, since we are already seeing successful results.
A. Veselova: What are the prospects for the development of the labeling system in Russia in the future?
A. Alikhanov: The introduction of labeling is advisable for goods that are most sensitive to illegal trafficking. Therefore, the government will systematically expand the range of products, including industrial products. We are conducting experiments on radio electronics, building materials, and radiators. We are working on traceability issues for the raw materials from which these goods are made.
We will scale and develop the labeling system, supplement it with new functionality. That is, we will continue to narrow the opportunities for various tricks that pose a threat to human health and undermine food and economic security.
Source – RIA Novosti.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.