Beer and alcohol in aluminum cans, draught beverages must be labeled in Russia as of January 15

MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Beer and low-alcohol beverages, namely poiré, mead and cider, and products in all types of packaging, including aluminum cans, are subject to mandatory labeling as of January 15, 2024, in Russia, and labeling is already in effect for beverages in kegs, glass and plastic.

Labeling is also mandatory for retail sales in draught form as of Monday. "From this date, retail stores and other enterprises that sell beer and low-alcohol drinks in draught form from kegs must transfer to the labeling system data on their connection to bottling equipment and sales using cash register equipment," the press service of the Center for Developing Advanced Technologies (CRPT) Operator LLC, which operates the Chestny Znak labeling system, said in a statement.

CRPT said that currently more than 54,500 retail participants have registered in the federal labeling system, including those selling draught beer. "Representatives of the segment have said that they were prepared for the latest stage in labeling beer products," according to the press release.

"Labeling and traceability processes in this market are being introduced in stages and will be completed in 2025. The next stage is April 1, 2024. From this date, the sale of keg beer without a labeling code is not permitted. We are already recording an increase in the legal production of beer and low-alcohol drinks by 20.8%, which was also recorded by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). With the introduction of traceability tools for retail sales, which are launched on January 15 and June 1, 2024, we expect to see a similar result throughout the entire supply chain," Kirill Volkov, head of the department of excisable commodity groups of CRPT, said in the statement.

Russia began implementing mandatory labeling of beer and low-alcohol beverages on March 1, 2023, with producers required as of this date to register in the Chestny Znak labeling system. Beer labeling in kegs began on April 1 and in glass and plastic bottles on October 1.