The “Honest Mark” product labeling system was created for the purpose of labeling goods and assigning unique codes to them; such codes contain information about the manufacturer, the country, the production date, the expiration date, the content, etc. They help track movement of imported goods, control product quality, identify counterfeit products, and assess the turnover. The “Honest Mark” product labeling is an integral part of foreign economic activity and one of the stages of international cargo shipping.
The first codes were applied to alcoholic beverages – those are the excise stamps and compulsory licensing. As an experiment, since 2018 they have been using labeling for medication, footwear, clothing, tobacco products, perfume, and photographic equipment. The testing period gave a clear understanding of the need for such measures. Since July 2020, the use of unique codes has become mandatory for the most types of products. All product categories will be under control by 2024.
How do you register with the “Honest Mark”?
The “Honest Mark” system is state-owned; it was adopted by the President of the Russian Federation in 2017. Services are provided by the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CRPT), which also controls products and offers access to the information.
To register with the “Honest Mark”, you must send in an application, receive an electronic digital signature (EDS), and obtain an inventory accounting program, a cash register equipment, an electronic document management (EDM) system. You will receive the answer in the form of a link to your personal account within 24 hours after submitting the application. It is also important to decide where the marking will be made: at the manufacturer's warehouse, at the transit customs warehouse of the Russian Federation or before reaching the border with Russia. To get unique codes, you will need to enter all the information about the product into the system. After that, codes will be generated and placed on the label of the products.
Product labeling can be performed by the shipping company. Failure to comply with the regulations may result in fines for the owner of the cargo. Once the data appears in the system, the goods are put into circulation. At the time of the sale, the scanner reads the code, the buyer is issued a receipt, and the information that the product has been sold is sent to the “Honest Mark” system.
Penalties for non-compliance
Refusal to label the goods, non-compliance with certain requirements and forgery of codes is subject to legal prosecution. The fine for selling unmarked products for individual entrepreneurs is up to 15 thousand rubles, for LLCs – up to 150 thousand rubles. A batch without data-matrix codes will be confiscated. If the total cost of goods exceeds 1.5 million rubles, the owner may face criminal liability. It is almost impossible to forge the code, since the data is hardcoded and won’t be shown in the system.
The specialists of MW-Trade offer a turnkey labeling service. For more than ten years we have been successfully carrying out international delivery, customs clearance, obtaining permits, licensing, shipping cargo across Russia and other services. We know what documents are required, what steps have to be made and we are confident about successful implementation of the task assigned to us. For competent advice, contact MV-Trade.
