Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has tightened the issuance of excise stamps for tobacco products. According to the changes made to the government decree No. 27 of January 26, 2010, it is now prohibited to issue special stamps without registering manufacturers in the “Honest Sign” system.
“It is prohibited to issue special marks for marking tobacco products, which are subject to mandatory marking with identification means as of the date of filing an application for the issue of special marks, to persons engaged in the production of tobacco products not registered in the state information system for monitoring the circulation of goods,” the document says.
The tobacco market was the first in Russia to test product labeling with digital codes. The pilot project for labeling cigarettes and cigarettes has been running since January 2018.
Registration of participants in the marking system began on March 1, 2019. On July 1, the obligatory transmission of data on sales of labeled packs using online cash registers began. From July 1, 2020, the circulation of unmarked products was prohibited. On July 1, 2021, a ban on the sale of unmarked alternative tobacco products came into force.
In mid-2021, it was reported that the share of illegal tobacco in Russia increased by almost 20% in three months. According to analysts of the agency KantAr TNS, the main stream of counterfeit products then still came from Belarus. Deliveries from Kazakhstan also increased. Against the background of increased smuggling rates, the share of counterfeit excise stamps, on the contrary, decreased, the study said.
Read more in the publication “Kommersant FM” “Smuggled cigarettes are gaining demand.”
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