They will go far: they plan to set a minimum price for shoe certification
In the Russian Federation, they can set a minimum price for a shoe certification service, Izvestia has learned. This was proposed by United Russia deputy Tatyana Butskaya at a meeting with government agencies on the eve of the state commission on combating counterfeiting. The actual receipt of such documents with all the research now costs about 100 thousand rubles, but in practice it is possible to pay unscrupulous companies 10 thousand rubles. Why such a measure is important for consumers and whether it will help to clear the market of counterfeiting is in the Izvestia article.
What is product certification?
The ministries have begun preparing for the next state commission on combating counterfeit products, which is held once a quarter under the leadership of First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. Experts are already forming an agenda for it: for example, at the end of February, a meeting was held on the basis of Roskachestvo, where officials and experts discussed the problems of the shoe market. On it, United Russia deputy Tatyana Butskaya proposed setting a minimum cost for certification of such goods, Izvestia learned. At the first stage, it should be children's shoes, she is sure. Further, the approach can be extended to other products.
Following the meeting, Roskachestvo recommended that the parliamentarian also discuss this issue in the State Duma, Izvestia reviewed the minutes of the meeting. After that, the problem can be submitted to the state commission, the source of the publication said. In the Russian Federation, certification is required for goods that have social significance, such as food, children's goods, cars, appliances, and electronics. These documents are necessary to prove to the buyer and regulators that we are talking about high-quality and safe products that comply with mandatory legal requirements.
Tatiana Butskaya clarified to Izvestia that for the official certification of goods, the manufacturer must undergo a number of procedures that are strictly regulated: for example, plant assessment, laboratory tests and other manipulations. At a minimum, certain equipment and reagents, as well as a set of tests, are needed for this. It turns out that all these services can be evaluated separately and their average and minimum cost can be identified. So far, the deputy has not assessed such a minimum.
— We must understand that now, in addition to bona fide companies, there are also those on the market that simply "draw" certificates for very reasonable money. In such cases, manufacturers do not submit their products for mandatory research, but receive illegal quality and safety documents that allow them to be sold. As a result, buyers are faced with low—quality goods," the expert noted. — Our approach allows us to solve this problem: businesses with cheap and illegal documents will be left without easy income, which will knock such companies out of the market. And the characteristics of the goods will get better, because they will all undergo the necessary research.
The company's costs for product certification reach up to 100 thousand rubles, Dmitry Guzov, head of the Innovative Research and Production Center for Textile and Light Industry, said at a meeting in Roskachestvo. This follows from the transcript of the event, which was reviewed by Izvestia.
— While the leading companies in the market indicate a cost 4-10 times lower than the costs that should be incurred if all certification procedures are carried out correctly: assessment of the state of production, sampling by experts, testing, — he noted. — This can be possible only in the only case when there was only one item of expenditure — on paper for the printer.
Rosaccreditation advised the editorial staff to contact the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Economic Development.
In the summer of 2024, a scandal broke out in the Russian Federation around the Certification Group company, which, according to expert estimates, accounted for a third of the market. In practice, she issued quality and safety documents for sneakers that were created in virtual reality, that is, for non-existent products. Last fall, the state commission under the leadership of Manturov instructed the Ministry of Economic Development to conduct an audit of this business. As a result, Rosaccreditation suspended the work of virtually all legal entities that are part of the group. In parallel, Roskachestvo began its inspections of certification centers. So far, the organization has not presented the results of its raids.
The cost of the product certificate
Roskachestvo supported Tatiana Butskaya's proposal, the organization told Izvestia. A fixed price for the service will appear on the market, which will be set based on its cost, and in such a way that it will be impossible to go below this level, the organization added. This means that the risk of manufacturers encountering an unscrupulous contractor will be minimal.
— This approach will eventually reduce the number of products on the market that do not meet the mandatory requirements. Roskachestvo and Rosaccreditation are currently checking the legality of the issued certificates: there are still proposals on the market to issue such documents without testing. Moreover, the price of "painted" certificates continues to decrease, as a result, it is more difficult for companies that operate legally to maintain business, the organization said. — This situation also leads to the fact that consumers receive unsafe goods.
Indeed, the cost of such documents cannot amount to 10 thousand rubles, Anna Komrakova, deputy head of the Belotest certification company, told Izvestia. The larger the range of goods, which means materials and age groups of children, as well as the further away the production is located, the higher the price for paperwork will be — it can go far beyond 100 thousand, she added.
— Therefore, the deputy's proposal is very logical and reflects the real labor costs for the certification of children's shoes. This minimum cost of certification should "weed out" unscrupulous manufacturers and suppliers of children's shoes who save on product quality and paperwork. Bona fide companies that take the manufacturing process, the quality of their products, and the conformity assessment procedure seriously should remain on the market," she said.
Since this is a full-fledged process in which the manufacturer confirms that the quality and safety of goods meet mandatory requirements, its cost cannot be lower than a certain amount, said Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative. Moreover, depending on the product category, the cost of obtaining such documents may vary.
— Therefore, the deputy's proposal deserves consideration. At the same time, it will still be necessary to exclude cases when documents will be issued at a high cost, but without real research. This means that it will be necessary to strengthen control over the industry — to monitor how compliance is confirmed, and to tighten responsibility for violators, " he told Izvestia. — And to support small domestic producers, it is possible to provide a preferential cost for such a service.
The Russian Union of Tanners and Shoemakers did not evaluate the deputy's proposal until it was studied. Earlier, the Izvestia organization clarified that they often find "painted" certificates for shoes, mainly for foreign products. Whereas our manufacturers make legal documents, investing their efforts, time and money in this.
Currently, there is no mandatory certification of baby food on the market, but there is such a requirement for shoes, Pavel Shapkin, head of the National Consumer Protection Union, told Izvestia. At the same time, there is no high need for this procedure yet: many manufacturers, for the most part, give a guarantee for their products. If the shoes turn out to be of poor quality, the buyer can always return them, and this generally does not affect the entire market. But if the minimum certification price rises sharply, manufacturers will be forced to spend more on evaluating each product model. This may lead to its rise in price, the expert believes.
According to art . 14.47 Administrative Code "Violation of the rules for the performance of certification work", a fine of 20 thousand to 40 thousand is provided for officials. rubles or disqualification for up to one year; for legal entities — from 400 thousand to 500 thousand rubles. If unsafe products for which illegal documents have been issued are in circulation, the maximum penalty will be 1 million rubles.
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