Russian Industry and Trade Ministry to update list of goods for parallel import in 2-3 months

YEKATERINBURG. July 12 (Interfax) - Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to prepare an updated list of goods allowed for parallel imports in 2-3 months, First Deputy Minister Vasily Osmakov told reporters on the sidelines of the Innoprom exhibition in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday.

"The new ruling has been issued. I think that in a couple of months we will come out with a new order," he said in answer to the question as to when the list of goods for parallel import will be updated.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said at the end of May that the parallel import mechanism launched last year to allow foreign goods into the Russian market from producers who refused to work in Russia, would continue to operate, but the list of goods would be significantly reduced and would continue to narrow as domestic analogues appear.

"This mechanism still exists, but the number of positions has decreased several times: initially there were about 1,300, and now there are about 300 positions left. Well, it will gradually decrease as the Russian market becomes saturated with our own Russian-made products," he said during the final board meeting of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Parallel imports involve the use of the international principle of copyright exhaustion and allows for the import of goods without the consent of the copyright holder from the moment sales start in any country in the world. In Russia, it began to operate in early May 2022 and applies to groups of goods and brands included in the list approved by the Industry and Trade Ministry. It contains goods that are not produced in Russia and whose supply in Russia is not permitted by the goods' foreign manufacturers.