The Russian authorities are planning to strengthen the fight against unscrupulous producers of dairy products. By the fall of 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Rospotrebnadzor are to submit proposals to the State Duma to toughen liability for counterfeit products. Among the possible measures are large fines proportional to the company's turnover and forced destruction of low-quality products at the expense of the manufacturer.
The main problem of the market is the replacement of milk fat with cheap vegetable analogs, which allows to reduce the cost of production by 4 times. According to experts, the share of counterfeit products in the dairy market is about 5%, and in the last two years this figure has started to grow due to the shortage of dairy raw materials. The problem is especially acute in the segments of catering and government procurement, where the main criterion of choice is often a low price, writes kommersant.ru.
Producers offer different ways of solving the problem. Some are in favor of expanding retail inspections and abolishing benefits for products with milk fat substitutes. Others believe that it is enough to more actively apply existing control tools, such as the “Mercury” and “Honest Mark” systems. However, all agree that the current situation puts bona fide producers at a disadvantage, forcing them to compete with cheap fakes.