About a third of domestic footwear may turn out to be surrogates

About a third of domestic footwear may turn out to be surrogate: for example, "gray" imports or illegal manufacturing, "Izvestia" has learned. This follows from the papers to the State Commission on counterfeiting, which was held on March 19. The minutes of the meeting are already ready, "Izvestia" familiarized with the document. It follows that the authorities intend to solve the issue with the manufacturers of such shoes.

Fake weight: Counterfeit clothes and shoes have become more common in Russia.

Last year, the number of left-hand goods shipped across the border increased by almost 20%

The problem with pseudo-producers of shoes became noticeable at the end of 2024 - early 2025, when in the Russian Federation began to operate mandatory labeling of shoes, before that from 2020 in the industry was an experiment, told "Izvestia" a source in the footwear industry, who participated in the preparation of analytics for the State Commission.

"Then we clearly saw how the data of the system "Honest Mark" and Rosstat diverge from each other," - said the interlocutor of the publication.

So, for the third quarter of 2024 in the identification system recorded 153.3 million pairs produced in the Russian Federation, it was on them that the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CDPT) issued stamps, but Rosstat received from our enterprises more modest information - the discrepancy was 39 million pairs. This follows from the analytical note of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to the meeting on the eve of the State Commission, it was prepared on the basis of information provided by business. This may indicate that in Russia they pass off imported footwear as domestic goods, or it is illegally manufactured in the country, the document says.

The industry believes that such discrepancies indicate that pseudo-producers of footwear are working in Russia: these are importers of cheap products, which are imported into Russia under the guise of blanks, for which there are no duties in the Russian Federation. In the country, such goods are brought to full readiness - for example, the soles are glued on, they get stamps on them - the "Honest Mark" system, the Izvestia source added. He emphasized that the status of a Russian enterprise allows companies to qualify for loans in the Russian Federation, as well as participate in government procurement.

Therefore, the State Commission instructed the labeling operator Center for Development of Advanced Technologies and Rospotrebnadzor to identify those enterprises that have signs of pseudo-productions, and further conduct control measures on them.

Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia:

Let's go to waste: about a third of Russian footwear may turn out to be surrogates