The Ministry of industry and trade proposed to postpone mandatory labeling of some dairy products
"So, registration in the system of manufacturers is proposed to start since June 1, 2020. Mandatory labeling of products with an expiration date of more than 1 year can start since December 1, 2020, of products with an expiration date of less than one year - since March 1, 2021. At the same time, the circulation of unmarked product residues is proposed to be allowed until the expiration date of the product", said in a statement of the Ministry.
As noted in the Ministry, this initiative was told about by the Minister of industry and trade of Russia Denis Manturov during a meeting with representatives of the dairy industry and the operator of the labeling system CATD. In accordance with the wishes of small Russian dairy producers, it is planned to give a one-year delay in labeling for farms and small industries. First of all, large and medium-sized producers, who occupy an overwhelming market share, should take part in the project.
It was also proposed to introduce transitional stages for the wholesale link: postponement of traceability in wholesale for a year, for the next year - only volume and article accounting, and only a year later - piece accounting.
In addition, the Ministry of industry and trade offers not to label products with a single package weight up to 30 grams and to issue free labeling codes for products worth less than 30 rubles. Mandatory scanning of the labeling code at the checkout will begin since the date of introduction of mandatory labeling; however, Russian retail is planned to be granted a delay on penalties of 12 months since the date of publication of the Russian government's decree on mandatory labeling, so that businesses have time to equip themselves with scanners for reading codes in a quiet mode.
The Ministry of industry and trade intends to discuss their initiatives in more detail at the working group meetings with business and the Ministry of agriculture, which coordinates the producers - participants of the experiment for labeling of dairy products.
At the end of January 2020, it became known that the Ministry of industry and trade proposed to extend the experiment on labeling of dairy products until May 31 and posted the corresponding draft resolution on the Federal portal of draft legal acts.
According to the current decree, a pilot project for labeling this type of product is held in Russia from July 15, 2019 to February 29, 2020. During the experiment, milk and cream, milk and cream powder, fermented dairy products (kefir, yogurt, etc.), whey, butter, cheeses, cottage cheese, and other products are to be labeled. The beginning of mandatory labeling of dairy products is scheduled for June 1, 2020.
Currently, Russia is conducting experiments on product labeling in several industries. In 2019, labeling of tobacco, perfume, shoes, tires and pneumatic tires, cameras and flash lamps, as well as five groups of light industry products became mandatory. Since January 1, 2020, mandatory labeling
For labeling, a two-dimensional code in the Data Matrix format is used, which is applied directly to the product packaging or product label and contains detailed data about the product: name, manufacturer, date, time and place of release.
By 2024, Russia will have a unified national system for labeling and tracking products. The operator of the system is the Center for advanced technologies development, created on the basis of public-private partnership.
