UPDATE: Watchdog sees no growth in dairy product prices from Nov 1

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MOSCOW, Sep 30 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight does not expect growth in prices for milk and dairy products from November 1 and on the contrary projects that production costs may decrease already in 2020, press secretary Yulia Melano told reporters on Monday.

“The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight is sure that the introduction of the final stage of the transition to electronic veterinary certification of livestock products will not affect the increase in milk prices. Moreover, the service expects a reduction in production costs already next year. This was the conclusion of analysts of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight who examined the implementation of the project in detail,” she said.

She also said that the share of counterfeit dairy products fell by 30–50% on certain positions in a number of Russian regions as a result of the electronic veterinary certification system.

Izvestia daily reported Monday citing the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry that prices for dairy products in Russia may grow by 10% already in November due to the launch of two new control systems.

Russia plans to launch electronic veterinary certification for finished dairy products at the end of autumn, while an experiment on their labeling in production and in retail chains has already been launched this summer. The simultaneous launch of two goods control systems will create additional costs for the business, the daily said. As a result, customers may face rising prices in stores, a spokesperson for the Association of Retail Companies (ACORT) told Izvestia.

Both control systems are aimed at eliminating counterfeit from the sale, the daily said.

The ACORT and retailers doubt that the electronic verification system will help to solve the counterfeit problem and already asked the government to delay its introduction until the end of February 2020, when the labeling experiment is expected to be finished, but received no positive response.

Artyom Belov, head of Russia’s National Dairy Producers Union, or Soyuzmoloko, told PRIME that a full-scale launch of the labeling system may raise production costs by 2.5–3%.

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