From 15 January until 31 December 2018 manufacturers and importers of tobacco products have an opportunity to participate (on a voluntary basis) in the pilot project involving marking of tobacco products with identification marks.
The purpose of such an identification is to:
Ensure authenticity of tobacco products;
Impose countermeasures against unlawful turnover of tobacco products and sale of counterfeit tobacco products;
Ensure interaction of all participants of tobacco market in Russia in order to exclude dumping and the use of other unlawful actions taken by tobacco market participants;
Standardise and unify the existing record-keeping procedures used for monitoring the turnover of tobacco products.
The end user will be able to scan (with the use of a mobile phone) the identification mark placed on a tobacco product and to obtain the information on the place of product manufacture and the status of the product. If the user discovers any inconsistency, he will be able to send a notification of such an inconsistency via a mobile application.
In order to be able to participate in the pilot project a tobacco manufacturer or importer will have to submit an application. The adopted Methodical Recommendations set out the procedure regulating the submission of such applications.
Law: Methodical Recommendations on the conduction of the experiment involving marking of tobacco products with means of identification and on the monitoring of turnover of tobacco products in the territory of Russia, adopted on 25 December 2017