“Vedomosti”: business will have access to the data collected by the labeling system of the Center for the development of advanced technologies
Preparation of the concept was delayed because of the dispute of officials who could not decide how to control the system. Finally, it was possible to agree only on Friday at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov, who oversees the project, two officials said.
Medvedev demanded that the information from the system belonged to the state, and business received non-discriminatory access to it. In addition, he instructed the government to decide whether the labeling system should be given the status of the state information system (GIS) and whether the functions of labeling goods and data operator should be separated. It was decided to give up the latest idea at the meeting at Akimov, know two interlocutors of “Vedomosti”: it was not even discussed seriously; there will be a single operator. At the end of 2017, Medvedev appointed the Center for the development of advanced technologies (CDAT) without a competition. This company is 50% owned by the structure of USM Holdings of Alisher Usmanov and his partners, the rest – by the State Corporation "Rostech" and the managing partner of Almaz Capital Partners Alexander Galitskiy, 25% each.
It is strange to review the basics of the whole project a year after its launch, says the official of the financial and economic block. When separating operators, it would be necessary to create a new information system, to postpone the labeling of tobacco and drugs (is to begin in March 2019 and January 2020, respectively) and the project itself in general, agrees another official.
But the control of the system will be strengthened – it will receive the status of GIS. Usually the state determines the rules of operation of GIS, imposes restrictions, the operator is obliged to hold tenders for public procurement. GIS works according to strict rules, says the analyst of the Russian Association of electronic communications Karen Kazaryan, although many large GIS are regulated by separate government resolutions providing relief measures. The labeling system will also have them, tell the interviewers of “Vedomosti”: the Center for the development of advanced technologies will be able to make changes to the system itself and only then coordinate them with the State, the rules of the new GIS have yet to be determined by the operator together with the government. The decision to give the system the status of GIS does not bring any benefits for the project – it extends the period of implementation of the system and complicates the process for the operator, warns the person familiar with the discussion participant. Labeling is the first example of GIS with a private operator after the adoption of the law allowing public-private partnership in relation to IT-systems, so how it will eventually work is not clear, Kazaryan said.
Business is concerned about whether it will gain access to system data. Foreign business has already asked Medvedev to do so during his meeting with the Advisory Council on foreign investment.
The access to information from the system will turn the costs of manufacturers for labeling into their investments, says Deputy General Director of Stada CIS Ivan Glushkov. Thanks to the data on the movement of goods, the business will be able to control costs better, agrees the representative of the Center for the development of advanced technologies.
The operator must provide businesses with non-discriminatory access to impersonal data under the terms that will be determined by the government, the concept says. Access to the processed data should be provided, IT -, analytical and other companies could provide the necessary services, but the raw data can be disclosed only with the consent of the company that transferred them, explains the representative of the Center for the development of advanced technologies.
The business does not have a single position whether to transfer the data on goods to analysts and the market or not, says an employee of one of the companies involved in the pilot labeling. The main thing is that all players have the same access, says an employee of another such company. A user-friendly interface should be created to allow businesses to agree to the processing of data or to prohibit it, clarifies the source of “Vedomosti”, familiar with the discussion in the government. The Center for the development of advanced technologies will not be able to earn on data usage, except for the cases stipulated by the agreement on the establishment of the system that needs to be negotiated with the government. The Center for the development of advanced technologies supports that approach, says its representative.
Another problem that worries the business is the criteria for the selection of goods to be labeled. Now the Center for the development of advanced technologies labels tobacco and shoes, and in November, the Federal tax service introduced to it a system of labeling drugs. Since 2019, 12 more categories of goods – from perfumes and tires to cameras and bed linen – will be added. And by 2024, the labeling should cover all industries, said first Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
The Advisory Council on foreign investment offered three criteria: the share of falsified products, the ratio of price and cost of labeling, its impact on business. The Ministry of industry and trade in the draft concept has provided six criteria: the size of the market, expert estimates of the share of illegal circulation, the structure of possible business costs for labeling, the cost of goods, the share of imports, as well as small businesses. The criteria are too blurred, complains the top manager of the manufacturer of goods of mass demand, and there is no accurate data on the share of counterfeit at all. The representative of Akimov refused to comment, and the representative of the Ministry of industry and trade could not respond to the request of "Vedomosti" on Sunday.
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