Russian Market of Confectionery Products (Study of the Feasibility of Introducing Mandatory Control and Accounting Marking of the “Honest Sign” System)

Abstract

The article presents the results of approbation of the Methodological recommendations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia on the preparation of proposals for the Government of Russia on the inclusion of certain goods in the list of goods subject to mandatory labeling by means of identifi cation (Order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia dated February 25th, 2021, No. 626).According to the results of approbation of Guidelines No. 626, the share of illegal trade in chocolate and chocolates in Russia in 2019 (on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic) was estimated at 2% of the volume of the corresponding market; sugar confectionery products — in 6% (3.6% on average for the indicated groups of confectionery products).Based on a preliminary assessment of the state of the Russian confectionery market in 2021, this assessment should be maintained. This conclusion generally agrees with the results of studies on the quality of certain types of confectionery products commissioned by ANO “Roskachestvo “ in 2017—2020, as well as global studies on counterfeit trade initiated by the OECD and the European Union Intellectual Property Offi ce in 2017— 2019 and posted on the OECD website on June 22, 2021.The fi ndings of the study diff er signifi cantly from estimates of the level of fakes among individual subgroups of confectionery products that are currently common on the Internet. The article provides predictive estimates of the cost of codes for the purposes of introducing labeling of confectionery products and a likely increase in the amount of additional tax revenues as a result of the introduction of control and accounting marking of the national digital marking system of the “Honest Sign” system.The shortcomings of Methodological recommendations № 626 were identifi ed and considered, proposals for their elimination were formulated.