As Izvestia found out, an appeal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was sent on February 14 from Costas Salvaras, President of Philip Morris International affiliated companies, Natalya Derepasko, Imperial Tobacco Sales and Marketing LLC, and Faruk Ener, General Director of BAT. In it, they tell the prime minister that they represent 95% of the Russian tobacco market.
“The success of the digitalization of the Russian economy, including electronic document management, the widespread introduction of online cash registers and digital marking, make it possible to put on the agenda the issue of the transition to modern methods of control over the production and circulation of tobacco products, including automation of control over the payment of taxes and fees”, — stated in the appeal.
In it, they inform the head of the Cabinet that their companies were actively involved in the process of introducing digital marking at a very early stage, and they are sure that this will help in increasing state control over the tobacco industry.
“Currently, state registration of the volume of tobacco production and its identification is carried out by gluing special marks on each package unit (pack of cigarettes). Since July 1, 2019, mandatory digital labeling of tobacco products has been introduced. Since July 1, 2020, full traceability of digital codes has also been introduced, ”the appeal says.
It states that the possibility of replacing paper stamps with electronic ones has been tested since 2018, when an experiment was launched to introduce a digital analogue. Today, thanks to this, product authentication can be carried out by simply scanning a digital code with a phone, which cannot be said about a paper stamp.
More details – in the exclusive material of “Izvestia”:
“The case of tobacco: paper labeling of cigarettes is asked to be canceled”