The number of legal importers of dry food in Russia increased by almost 12%

The number of legal importers of dry food has increased by almost 12% due to labeling. This was reported to "Izvestia" in the press service of the Center for Development of Advanced Technologies (CDPT, the state operator of the labeling system "Honest Sign") on December 11.

At the same time, they noted that the labeling allowed to bring out of the shadows nine companies involved in the import of dry pet food and treats, just for two months. At the time of the start of the mandatory application of codes on October 1, 2024, there were 75 importers who reported to the state. Now 84 importing organizations are registered in the system.

"Labeling has already proven to be a major tool for whitewashing the economy. Dry pet food and treats are no exception. We see how in just two months almost 12% of importers have been "whitewashed". Moreover, there are more legal producers. Before mandatory labeling the state knew about 313 producers, and now there are 333. We expect that this is only the initial effect and in time the labeling system will be able to identify even more legal market participants," said Revaz Yusupov, Deputy Director General of the CRPT.

For market participants, CRPT has developed a support measure in the form of compensation of 50% of equipment costs, which was in effect until December 1. 60 companies applied to the operator for it.

The second stage of mandatory labeling of this group of goods will begin on March 1, 2025 and will be introduced for wet food. If a store is already connected to the mandatory requirements, it will not have additional costs with the start of the new stage. Also, to simplify the use of the labeling system, the operator has developed free solutions "Labeling. Simply", "Honest SIGN. Business" and "EDO Lite", which also help to reduce producers' costs.

On July 19, the head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, Sergei Dankvert, said that Russia's imports of pet food decreased by 40% in the first half of 2024. From 2020, Rosselkhoznadzor gradually imposes restrictions on imports of pet food due to the detection of violations in the products.