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Total labeling of products doesn't make sense

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The Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs believes that labeling is necessary for labeling is required for goods with high levels of shadow turnover.

The experts of the El Tiregi union of industrialists and businessmen discussed the risks and prospects of the introduction of labeling during the round table, Evgeniy Bolgert, the Deputy Chairman of Atameken said.

However total labeling and norm of the Agreement on the introduction of labeling in a notifying order causes fears and dissatisfaction among Kazakh business, and among colleagues in the Union.

"Any member country of the Union can unilaterally initiate labeling. The business has two options: to support or reject the introduction of labeling. If the country does not support, there will be a barrier for business in the form of new conditions for entry into the market of the member country with the labeling," Evgeniy Bolgert said.

In the meantime, the norm forces other members of the Union to introduce labeling in their country to avoid the risks of restricting domestic mutual trade, but it does not take into account the economic feasibility of the country.

"A comprehensive analysis of the feasibility of the introduction of labeling, which would take into account all factors affecting the business environment, is not carried out at the proper level. For example, the pilot marking fur products showed good results, it was possible to whiten the market, but we should not ignore the fact that the fur products are expensive. The fur products are not a food commodity for general consumption, and this pilot cannot serve as a test case,"  he said.

The Chamber has already noted the inexpediency of total labeling, including socially important goods. According to Evgeniy Bolgert, the mechanism should be introduced gradually.

"No one is ready to fully implement the labeling, the information systems of the countries have not been integrated yet, and there is no single catalog of goods for labeling. In Kazakhstan, there's no proper infrastructure, as we haven't yet fully transitioned to online labeling, and there are problems with the recognition of the digital signature. We have long been talking about the need to resolve this process. The EAEU countries should agree to make decisions on the introduction of labeling both on the territory of one of the states and within the framework of the Union, without creating new restrictions and worsening the existing procedures for mutual trade," Yevgeniy Bolgert said.


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