To effectively combat counterfeit tobacco products, it is necessary to multiply fines for those who sell them, said Vadim Dengin, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Budget and Financial Markets. In a conversation with SenatInform, he stressed that if there are fewer shops selling fake cigarettes, then people will have no choice but to go and buy high-quality products.
Counterfeit cigarettes continue to be sold in the Russian Federation, although legislation is constantly being amended to combat this phenomenon. At the same time, underground workshops operate both domestically and abroad, and huge shipments of counterfeit goods come from Belarus and East Asia. As the Interior Ministry told Izvestia, products manufactured in underground workshops in our country are often transported to small non-chain stores in regions where they are sold among the local population under the guise of legal products. In addition, the volume of remote sales of tobacco products through delivery services has increased.
Senator Dengin is confident that in this case, the most effective would not be criminal punishment, but economic impact, that is, a multiple increase in fines. In addition, Rosalokoltabakregulirovanie and Rospotrebnadzor need to strengthen their work.
"Sellers who end up on the verge of bankruptcy will realize that it is more profitable for them not to trade fakes, but to run an honest business," Vadim Dengin, member of the Federation Council Committee on Budget and Financial Markets
In addition, the senator believes, it is necessary to listen to the proposal repeatedly voiced within the walls of the upper house, including from the Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, to transfer part of the excise taxes on tobacco to the regions, which will become an incentive for them to fight counterfeit products.
Earlier it was reported that the Ministry of Finance plans to introduce licensing of tobacco retail trade from 2026. Licenses will be issued by Rosalokoltabakregulirovanie through special online platforms. Each outlet will have to have a separate license, comply with the law and be registered in a special system.
Starting from March 1, 2024, the production, export and import of tobacco products are already subject to licensing, but the obligation does not apply to retail outlets.
As reported by Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov, the problem of gray tobacco imports will be solved by 2027, when excise tax rates will be equalized between Russia and Belarus.
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