The Ministry of Agriculture has found a way to minimize the costs of the dairy industry for labeling and prevent an increase in product prices. The department offered to partially reimburse direct costs to producers, as well as provide them with soft loans.
The ministry sent its position to the government. This is stated in the documents of the Ministry of Agriculture dated October 23, which entered the State Duma (Izvestia has it). The amount of financial assistance was not specified. The press service of the government told Izvestia that the letter from the Ministry of Agriculture had been received by the Cabinet of Ministers and is being worked out.
In the first year, 61.3 billion rubles will be needed to launch and maintain the labeling system, then the annual costs of the industry will amount to 35.2 billion rubles, previously estimated by Soyuzmoloko (unites the largest manufacturers of the industry).
If the companies do not have state support, they will include the costs of introducing digital marking of products into the price, Marina Petrova, deputy head of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry Committee for the development of entrepreneurship in the agro-industrial complex, told Izvestia. This will lead to an increase in the cost of production by 10% in the case of large enterprises, while for medium and small businesses it can increase by 20%, the expert believes.
The press service of the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CRPT, labeling operator) told Izvestia that they do not expect price increases and interruptions in the supply of dairy products. The system operator is confident that the labeling will increase the company’s revenues by leaving illegal players from the market.
Additional revenue of manufacturers may amount to 60 billion rubles per year, which will reduce the cost of products for consumers within 4%, according to the Central Development and Production Center.
Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia:
It will not be fat: the Ministry of Agriculture proposed measures to support dairy producers