Look what you have done – Newspaper Kommersant No. 240 (7441) of 12/26/2022

The White House intends to introduce a risk-based approach to the operation of the product labeling system, revealing to entrepreneurs access to their potential violations in the relevant information system – from flaws in product certification processes to overdue sales. Currently, these data are available only to the controlling agencies. It is assumed that the tool will reduce the administrative burden on conscientious entrepreneurs, as it will allow them to adjust business processes. In the market, the tool is considered useful, while the presence of arbitrage is called an unresolved problem: despite the tightening of requirements and control over their implementation, unscrupulous businesses still manage to work in the shadows.

The government will disclose to business data on deviations from the rules for labeling and circulation of its goods, follows from a letter from Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vasily Shpak to Dmitry Alkhazov, Director General of the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CRPT), dated December 12 (Kommersant has it). Entrepreneurs registered in the system will be able to receive data on the type of deviation and the results of the check by the end of the year through automated program interfaces (API). We are talking about such violations as repeated sales of goods by one or different participants in the turnover, sales of expired goods, as well as violations in terms of certification or declaration of conformity of products (more than 20 types of deviations in total).

Recall that the government has deployed a digital product labeling system as part of a long-term fight against counterfeiting. Now labeling – the application of identification tools – is extended to dairy products, bottled water, medicines, tobacco, fur products, shoes, etc. and allows you to process data on the turnover of these goods on the market, forming a digital model of industries. The availability of data at different stages of the value chain makes it possible to apply a risk-based approach and record possible violations at each stage – for this, several subsystems are integrated into the labeling system, which automatically analyze all operations with goods. The integration of Chestny Znak and the Mercury system of Rosselkhoznadzor has reduced the number of violators among dairy producers from 17% in June to 13-15% in October.

Currently, 16 authorities have access to the labeling system. At the same time, more than 34 thousand manufacturers of labeled goods are registered in the system – access to data can help them reduce the number of errors in the labeling process. “This works like warning signs on the roads about the cameras ahead: the business knows that it has committed a violation, corrects it before the arrival of the supervisory authorities and does not allow it anymore,” Anton Gushchansky, director of control and supervision activities of the Central Regional Development Center, explains the essence of the changes.

In July, the CRPT already conducted an experiment, providing data on possible violations to 63 companies. As a result, the number of deviations from the requirements for the circulation of goods decreased by 50-99%. “The actual violations of regulatory requirements were quickly detected and corrected, unscrupulous counterparties and imperfection of business processes were identified, and technical problems on the business side were resolved,” the CRPT reports. Anna Orlova, Co-Chair of the Digital Initiatives Committee of the Association of Retail Companies, points out that digital labeling is an innovation for many market players. “Retail has been working with labeled goods for a long time and working out possible overlays and errors in advance, however, taking into account the human factor, it is impossible to completely eliminate errors. Information about deviations, which is collected in the GIS MT, helps to quickly track such cases and prevent violations,” she said.

However, the market pays attention to the chronic problems of the labeling system. “Periodically, the portal itself does not work, and because of this, the labeling participants violate the deadlines for transferring or outputting data. Some manufacturers do useless work, mark and display for themselves, and the end client is not in the know. Processes are not automated. For example, labeling sets or re-labeling is a complex manual labor that puts an enormous burden on the internal system of work,” lists Alexandra Golubeva, a member of the Committee for Automation of Solutions for the Traceability of the Movement of Goods and Money of Business Russia. The head of Programs for Business, Ilya Rosinsky, believes that the problem is not so much in the Honest Sign portal itself, but in a long chain of electronic document management. However, one of the most acute problems remains arbitrage in the market. “Some of the competitors both worked hard and still work, there is no difference,” emphasizes Alexandra Golubeva.

Diana Galieva