The lawyer explained the rules for checking the labeling of goods from October 1

On October 1, the square code of the Honest Sign system became mandatory for new shipments of individual household and sanitary products, as well as finished meat products. The buyer can check each package before paying. Dmitry Khrulev, Vice president of the International Association of Mediators "The Power of Dialogue", told Izvestia about this.

"Starting from October 1, 2026, the square code of the Honest Sign system is mandatory on new shipments of individual household and sanitary products, including toothbrushes, combs, cleaning brushes and sponges, diapers and sanitary pads. The next stage also covers sausages and other finished meat products. The buyer can check each package before payment," Khrulev said.

According to him, the buyer can check each package before paying. After scanning, the application will show the name, manufacturer, volume and status — these data should be checked against the packaging.

The green status, the expert explained, confirms that the code is valid and the product is in circulation, the red status indicates a ban on sale or disposal, and the gray status indicates that there is no record. In case of a red status, delay or data discrepancy, according to him, it is worth canceling the purchase, notifying the store and sending a message through the application.

"GOST is a voluntary tool"

The head of Roskachestvo — about falsification, GOST standards and new technologies

As Khrulev noted, there are separate deadlines for old stocks. Products manufactured or imported before October 1 can be sold without a code until September 30, 2027, meat products from previous batches — until the expiration date. Therefore, according to him, such packaging without a code can be sold legally.

According to the lawyer, the code is applied by the manufacturer or importer, the information is transmitted by the delivery participants, and the store is responsible for the sale. The buyer is not punished for their mistakes, he stressed. For companies, the fine for release without mandatory labeling is 50-100 thousand rubles, for sale — 50-300 thousand rubles with confiscation.

As the expert noted, labeling costs 50 kopecks in production without VAT, and the law does not establish a mandatory price surcharge. It helps to trace the origin, but does not certify the quality.

According to him, it is necessary to check the expiration date, packaging and the coincidence of information. If the defective product has already been purchased, article 18 of the Law on Consumer Protection, the lawyer reminded, gives the right to a replacement, price reduction or refund.

Since August 1, labeling of finished meat products in the Honest Sign system has become mandatory in Russia. The requirements have extended to manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retail stores, and sausages, pates, culinary products and other products in consumer packaging are subject to the rules. Business also has requirements for registration in the system, applying Data Matrix codes, and configuring cash register and warehouse equipment.