Manufacturers of domestic goods and businessmen discussed the issue of introducing labeling of goods

Manufacturers of domestic goods and businessmen discussed the issue of introducing labeling of goods

The main results and difficulties arising in the process of implementing pilot projects for labeling goods were discussed at a working meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin.

Representatives of NCE «Atameken», the association of importers of retail and wholesale trade of footwear, manufacturers of soft drinks and juices, pharmaceutical and medical products «Pharmedindustry of Kazakhstan», as well as light industry spoke on behalf of the business community. The meeting was also attended by the heads of interested government agencies, the unified operator of labeling and traceability of goods of «Kazakhtelecom» JSC.

According to the unified operator, 69.1 thousand natural fur products, 3.3 billion tobacco products, 102.4 million shoe products have been marked since the introduction of mandatory labeling in Kazakhstan to date.

At the same time, there are a number of significant issues hindering the implementation of the project. So, according to businessmen, these are primarily technical problems and shortcomings of the labeling information system. However, at the same time, representatives of domestic shoe manufacturers believe that the introduction of mandatory labeling of goods meets the interests of business.

«As representatives of domestic business, we are in favor of mandatory labeling of goods, as it supports the interests of domestic producers, creates equal conditions for competition. If there are technical problems, then they need to be solved, and we are ready to continue to participate in the process of implementing the labeling system»,— said Anara Kairzhanova, representative of the National Association of Light Industry Enterprises «Qaz Textile Industry».

More problematic questions were raised by wholesale and retail importers of goods. According to the representative of the Inditex group of companies Anton Serdaridi, today there is no integration between the National Catalog of Goods and the GS1-Kazakhstan system, there are problems with applying marking codes in customs warehouses, in e-commerce when trading marked goods. According to Ainur Kaidarova, representing the Association of Importers of retail and Wholesale footwear, the introduction of the labeling process leads to an increase in the cost of goods, and, as a result, a reduction in the number of retail sellers of shoes.

Aliya Mamytbaeva, representing the interests of producers of soft drinks and juices, added that soft drinks are a low—price market where profit is obtained due to sales volume. Creating counterfeit products is simply unprofitable. Considering that the cost of products is low, the costs of labeling it are too high.

The Association of Manufacturers of Pharmaceutical and Medical Products «Pharmedindustry of Kazakhstan» announced, among others, problems with the registration of foreign manufacturers in the labeling and traceability system of goods, distribution of labeled medicines.

«The main task of the implementation of the goods labeling project is to ensure free and legal turnover of goods, transparency. We have to consider all the issues for each product group with interested participants», — Serik Zhumangarin summed up the results of the meeting.

For reference: digital labeling and traceability of goods as a tool to combat the shadow market started in Kazakhstan in 2018. As of October 4, 2022, mandatory labeling has been introduced for 4 commodity groups: fur and tobacco products, shoes, medicines. Pilot projects on labeling packaged water, sugar-containing beverages and jewelry are being implemented.