The Expert Council of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy proposed to create a register of sellers of tobacco and nicotine-containing products, Forbes has learned. Experts also ask to soften a number of licensing requirements for participants in the tobacco trade, including eliminating the requirement for a minimum size of the store area, otherwise a significant part of the market may go into the black zone, business representatives say.
The Expert Council on Economic Whitewashing under the Duma Committee on Economic Policy proposed creating a register of retailers and wholesalers of tobacco and nicotine-containing products instead of or in parallel with the introduction of their licensing. The initiative was sent to the Ministry of Finance, Rosalokoltabakkontrol, the Ministry of Agriculture and other departments.
Today, there is already a licensing system and a register of manufacturers, exporters and importers of products, as well as raw materials for their production. The list includes manufacturers, importers, and duty-free shops. At the same time, wholesale and retail sales of tobacco and nicotine-containing products on the domestic Russian market are carried out without the need to obtain licenses, according to the resolution of the expert council. The Ministry of Finance, together with Rosalokoltabakcontrol, has developed proposals for licensing wholesalers and retailers of cigarettes. While generally supporting the initiatives of regulators, experts note that a number of developed requirements can lead to disruption of business processes and significant costs for legal market participants. In particular, the business points out that the standards do not meet the working conditions in the market, for example, in terms of the size of permitted outlets. The measures developed involve a ban on small-format premises, while most of the industry uses them, as well as the introduction of regional rules, which can lead to increased corruption on the ground.
According to the expert council, the registry approach will strengthen control over the wholesale and retail turnover of products, which will help clear the market of illegal players. The list is proposed to be created on the basis of the State Information System for Monitoring goods (GIS MT, the Honest Sign system). Experts believe that sellers already registered in this system can be automatically included in the register after providing information about all outlets and paying state duty. New participants will have to register with GIS MT, provide evidence of absence of tax debts, a declaration of compliance with the law of the trading facility, etc.
"Legislation should not create additional administrative barriers that interfere with bona fide entrepreneurial activity," Artem Kiryanov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy and chairman of the expert council, told Forbes. It is important that an informed decision is made on issues that cause certain conflicts, taking into account the arguments of the business, he said.
"Legal businesses support a flexible approach in the form of a GIS-based registry model instead of licensing," said Elena Dubankova, Chairman of the Excisable Goods Committee at Opora Russia. As of February 2025, about 270,000 retail outlets selling tobacco and nicotine-containing products were registered in the monitoring system, approximately 60% of which belong to non-network trading enterprises represented by small and medium-sized businesses, she noted. According to the tobacco consulting agency Fedotov Group, there are about 300,000 outlets selling such products in Russia today.
At the same time, GIS MT provides a wide range of additional digital analytics and control tools (product traceability, blocking sales of illegal products, risk indicators, etc.), Dubankova continues. "All this will expand the possibilities of the risk-based approach already used and increase the transparency of control and supervisory activities," the expert is sure.
"A large number of mandatory requirements are already in force in retail and various control measures are being carried out. Therefore, the assessment of the introduction of a register of sellers of tobacco and nicotine-containing products strongly depends on the parameters: who can get into the registry, why they are excluded from the registry, who will control it and how," Stanislav Bogdanov, chairman of the ACORT Presidium, told Forbes. The new rules should not lead to a reduction in the channel of legal retail sale of tobacco and nicotine—containing products and an increase in the illegal market - all registry parameters should be set at the federal level. The parameters should also be balanced and not burdensome for legal market participants, he continues. "We consider it advisable to automatically include stores with valid alcohol licenses in the register," Bogdanov added.
The Expert Council also suggests relaxing a number of requirements for licensees. Among them is the exclusion of the requirement for a minimum area of a retail facility — 25 square meters. m for rural areas and 50 sq . m. m in cities, since most points of sale have an area of 5-15 square meters. m. According to Evgeny Fedotov, founder of the consulting agency Fedotov Group, such a discrepancy between the proposed standards and the real working conditions of the industry is a key problem.
Unlike alcohol, tobacco products are not subject to open display, their sale is carried out exclusively according to price lists, he says. "That is why the vast majority of retail outlets occupy an area of no more than 15 square meters. m — an increase in these standards simply does not make economic sense," the expert explains.
As a result of this restriction, about 150,000-170,000 retail outlets will close. This will lead to monopolization of the market by retail chains, which may lead to an increase in the cost of goods and a decrease in their quality, according to the resolution of the expert council. In addition, some of these sellers may enter the black zone, illegal turnover will increase due to trading through social networks and messengers.
Experts consider it necessary to maintain centralized regulation of the industry at the federal level, without transferring additional powers to regional authorities to restrict places of trade and bans the sale of certain types of products.
"All licensing requirements must be uniform at the federal level. The industry needs clear and achievable rules that will ensure a balance between the interests of the state and business," says Evgeny Fedotov. The proposal to empower regions to impose additional restrictions on points of sale and introduce regional bans on the sale of certain types of products will inevitably lead to multidirectional practices, the members of the expert council believe. The lack of uniform requirements and the unity of their enforcement will significantly increase the risks of corruption factors in obtaining a retail license and will lead to a significant reduction in the number of sellers, the experts' resolution says.
Among the proposals is the lifting of the ban on the sale of nicotine-containing products intended for nicotine consumption through sucking and chewing (nicpacks).
"Despite the ban on wholesale and retail sale of knickpacks in force since 2020, this product is currently widely represented in Russia (offline and online) in the illegal zone," says Elena Dubankova. This means that access to it for minors is not limited, the composition is not regulated and is not controlled, which entails risks for consumers. According to expert estimates, the losses of the state budget from 2020 on excise duty and VAT in connection with the ban already amount to about 96 billion rubles, she added.
The high-profile cases of poisoning with nikpaks, which became the key reason for their ban in 2020, were the result of a complete lack of mandatory requirements to ensure product safety, as well as state control over this market, Dubankova continues. But today the situation has changed radically, the system of state regulation and control of the tobacco and nicotine-containing products market has significantly strengthened. An industry law has been adopted that establishes the legal basis not only for turnover, but also for production, a key regulator has been established — the Ministry of Finance and the control body — Rosalokoltabakcontrol, a digital labeling system has been developed, and so on. For example, nikpacks simply need to be integrated into the created system by adopting a national quality standard for such products, and then other existing ones should be extended to them. Russia has requirements for regulating and controlling the market of tobacco and nicotine-containing products, the expert said.
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