Caviar, salmon roe labeling planned for launch in Russia on April 1, 2024 - Industry and Trade Ministry
MOSCOW. Sept 15 (Interfax) - The mandatory labeling of sturgeon caviar and salmon roe could launch in Russia as of April 1, 2024, the Industry and Trade Ministry's press service reported, citing Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Yekaterina Priezzheva.
"Upon instruction of the Russian government, the Industry and Trade Ministry, jointly with the interested departments, is developing the matter of implementing mandatory labeling for caviar as of April 1, 2024," according to the ministry's press release, following Priezzheva's trip to the Sakhalin Region.
Priezzheva recalled that a trial run is currently underway in Russia on the labeling of caviar on consumer packaging. The trial run launched on April 15, 2023, and will continue until March 31, 2024.
As previously reported, the trial run is being conducted regarding sturgeon caviar (Foreign Economic Activity Commodity Nomenclature (FEACN) 1604 31 000 0) and salmon roe ("red caviar", FEACN 1604 32 001 0) of the fish species.
There were plans initially to conduct a trial run on the labeling of fish products, including caviar, from April 1, 2022, to February 28, 2023, but the trial run was then postponed.
As the operator of Russia's national system for digital labeling and tracking of goods, the CRPT company (Center for Developing Advanced Technologies) reported that at the time of launching the trial run, the following companies announced their respective decisions to participate: Meridian and Diana fishing company, part of Russian Caviar House; the Sokra factory; the Vityaz-Avto company; Priozersk Fishing Company; Rybstandart, and others. Over 30 companies in total declared their respective intention to participate in the pilot project, CRPT noted.
According to estimates from the Finance Ministry's R&D institute, to which the CRPT previously referred, the share of illegal caviar on the market is over 20%, and the Higher School of Economics estimates that the figure exceeds 27.5%.