SF showed the first industry-specific regulations on the quality and safety of food delivery

The Federation Council (SF) hosted a presentation of the first industry—specific quality control regulation for the provision of food delivery services to the public, a document developed in accordance with the instructions of the Federation Council, as well as taking into account the methodological recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor.

As noted during the discussion, the market for delivery and ready meals is showing steady growth and is becoming more deeply integrated into the daily lives of citizens. At the same time, the current regulation is largely based on the norms formed before the advent of digital platforms and large-scale delivery services. In these conditions, the role of industry documents is increasing, which translate the requirements of legislation into specific, practical processes.

One of the key topics of the meeting was the impact of the delivery infrastructure on the urban environment and the interests of residents. The development of darkstores and last-mile logistics is increasingly becoming the subject of public debate, and, as emphasized, requires not prohibitive measures, but the development of transparent and enforceable standards.

Senator Viktor Zobnev noted that the rapid growth of the delivery market required a rethink and clarification of existing regulatory approaches, taking into account the new formats of the industry.

"The modern Russian market for food delivery and ready meals is undergoing a tectonic shift. From an auxiliary service typical for a narrow segment of the restaurant business, this industry has become a critically important infrastructure for the life support of urban agglomerations," said Zobnev.

According to him, the explosive growth of the sector, anchored by changing consumer habits, has led to new challenges that the existing regulatory framework could not fully address. Traditional sanitary standards did not take into account the specifics of darkstores, last-mile logistics, and the digital nature of aggregators.

In this context, the emergence of industry regulations, according to the senator, is a transition to a proactive system of self-regulation.

"The document marks the transition to a proactive system of sectoral self-regulation based on a risk—based approach," Viktor Zobnev emphasized, noting that the regulations do not create a parallel reality, but detail the requirements of federal laws, technical regulations and methodological recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor in relation to distance trading.

During the discussion, special attention was paid to the role of regulations in the system of state control and the fight against illegal market participants. Senator Alexander Lutovinov noted that in the face of modern threats, the state is interested in minimizing the risks of the spread of infectious and non-communicable diseases, and the regulations actually form an additional protection system.

He stressed that the provisions of the document oblige delivery operators to verify the legality of suppliers' activities through state information systems and analyze their supervisory history, which closes access to the market for one-day firms and illegal industries.

"Large aggregators that comply with the Regulations become "market attendants" and allies of the state, squeezing gray schemes out of supply chains," the senator noted.

According to Lutovinov, the support of the state monitoring system for the turnover of goods and the function of the "prohibitive cash register" ensures full traceability of the movement of goods, provides the state with reliable data on the turnover of food products and contributes to the eradication of counterfeiting. In addition, the regulations make it possible to shift the focus of supervisory activities from total control to targeted work with violators.

Senator Oleg Golov highlighted the social and urban aspects of regulation. He noted that the growing number of retail and service facilities in residential areas often creates tension between residents and businesses.

"The regulations affect sensitive aspects of urbanism and social housing," Golov stressed.

According to him, the activities of such facilities cannot completely eliminate noise, but detailed work regulations and compliance with local laws on silence can minimize the impact on living conditions. According to the senator, a special role is assigned to the issues of good neighborliness in the regulations: noise, parking, employee behavior are regulated, additional feedback channels for residents and consideration of their requests are introduced.

"The standards encourage businesses to invest in modern equipment, which improves the overall quality of the urban environment," Oleg Golov said.

He also stressed the importance of the regulatory mechanism for blocking products when violations are detected and integrated with state registries.

"If Rospotrebnadzor detects a violation by a manufacturer, the aggregator, acting according to the Regulations, automatically blocks its products, stopping sales faster than it can be done administratively," the senator said.

Oleg Pavlov, Chairman of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, noted that the regulations are based on current legislation, technical regulations and recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor, and also take into account actual delivery processes.

"We tried to make not a declaration, but a working tool. The regulations specify exactly how the control processes should be built so that the requirements really work in the conditions of modern delivery," Pavlov said.

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In March, Oleg Pavlov, chairman of the Public Consumer Initiative consumer protection organization, recalled that food delivery services are digital platforms. Therefore, it is necessary that they be able to monitor all the sites that connect to them, and be able to verify the availability of the necessary certificates, declarations, and registrations. Pavlov noted that recently it has been possible to increase consumer protection in the food industry.

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