As of 1 March 2020 footwear market participants (manufacturers, sellers, importers, etc.) are prohibited to place on the Russian market or make available on the Russian market any footwear that does not have the required identification marks (signs).
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia has adopted rules for labelling of footwear with special identification marks. The rules regulate how footwear is to be labelled with the identification marks.
The rules also impose the procedure which all market participants (manufacturers, importers, distributors, etc.) will have to follow in order to submit information about the turnover of footwear to the State Information System Operator. The rules govern the structure and format of marking and identification codes that are to be applied to footwear and the procedure for the interaction of the monitoring information system with state information systems involving participants turnover of footwear products.
The rules provide that all market participants involved into the circulation of footwear on the market will be required to:
- register themselves in the state monitoring information system from July 1, 2019 until September 30, 2019 (inclusive) or after September 30, 2019 within 7 calendar days from the day they have started to carry out activities involving placing on the market or making available on the market any footwear (manufacture, sale, resale or importation);
- no later than 30 calendar days from the date of registration in the monitoring information system - to ensure readiness of their own software and hardware for information exchange with the monitoring information system and to send an application for testing of mutual information exchange to the monitoring information system operator;
- pass the test for the informational interaction of their own software and hardware and information monitoring system no later than 60 calendar days from the date of their readiness;
- to input information on the labelling of footwear into the information monitoring system, as well as on putting footwear into circulation, its turnover and withdrawal from circulation from October 1, 2019 on a voluntary basis, and from March 1, 2020, on a mandatory basis.
According to the adopted Rules, footwear market participants are allowed, until 1 March 2020, to place on the Russian market or make available on the Russian market any footwear without identification marks and without reporting the labelling information to the information monitoring system as well as the circulation and putting out of circulation of footwear not marked with identification marks. As of 1 March 2020, market participants involved in footwear circulation are required to label their footwear and submit the information on such identification marking to the information monitoring system.
Law: Decree No. 860 of 5 July 2019 on the Adoption of the Rules for Marking of Footwear with Means of Identification and on the Implementation of the State System of Footwear Circulation Monitoring.