Retailers have missed up to 10% of suppliers after the introduction of electronic veterinary certificates
"Federal trading networks tell us that about 2% to 10% of their suppliers (depending on the trading network) - I emphasize, traditional suppliers who have supplied products to this trading network for years - as soon as the network introduces an obligatory requirement that the products are to be accompanied by an electronic veterinary certificate, these suppliers disappear", said Deputy Head of the Rosselkhoznadzor Nikolay Vlasov at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"That is, it is clear that they cannot confirm the legality of the origin of their products. It is either smuggling, or underground production, or falsification. Thus, such volumes of production leave the market, at least, from civilized trade, and are replaced by products produced by "normal" manufacturers", - he noted.
According to him, these data were obtained during an informal survey of Federal and some regional trading networks conducted by the Rosselkhoznadzor "through interviews". The Department asked retailers to assess whether the composition of their suppliers had changed after switching to the electronic veterinary certification system "Mercury".
"In general, the introduction of “Mercury” is designed to change the competitive environment in the production and circulation of food products in such a way that a selective advantage is gained by a conscientious manufacturer over an unscrupulous one", added N. Vlasov.
The electronic veterinary certification of animal products, the introduction of which was promoted by the Rosselkhoznadzor since 2015, began to work on July 1 this year.
Initially, it was assumed that "Mercury" will include all livestock products, including finished products of processing industries. This mechanism was supposed to work since January 1, 2018. The Rosselkhoznadzor associated its introduction with the need to remove falsified products from the market (most of which were found in the dairy sector), as well as to establish a traceability process "from farm to counter".
The representatives of the processing industry, especially the dairy industry were against electronic veterinary certification. As a result, it was decided to postpone the introduction of electronic veterinary certification to July 1, 2018. Then, on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Gordeev, the Ministry of agriculture changed a number of its orders - in particular, excluded some types of products from the list of controlled products, which must be accompanied by veterinary certificates. In particular, the finished dairy products manufactured in industrial way and packed in consumer containers should not be subject to the electronic veterinary certification.
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