Russian Duma wants 50% of shop shelves filled with local goods

MOSCOW, Feb 13 (PRIME) -- The economic policy committee of the State Duma, the parliament’s lower chamber, is preparing amendments to the law on trade under which Russian retailers must allocate half of their shelves to locally made goods, a committee representative told PRIME on Friday.

“Given the current difficult economic situation the government and the legislative power must protect national producers and also increase investment in the development and modernization of the producing economy and promote import substitution,” the representative said in a speech published on the official website of the country’s ruling party United Russia.

The Agriculture Ministry suggested the government order retailers to secure a fixed share of their shelves for local producers and is preparing corresponding adjustments.

The ministry also plans to develop a list of grounds for refusal to conclude contracts for supplies and to fine tune requirements for small retail and fair trade taking into account expansion of national goods.

The current trade legislation does not foresee a systemic approach to stable access of agricultural producers to stores, including preferences for national producers.

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