Russia Closes Illegal Tobacco Facilities and Raises Taxes

Dec.01.2022
Russia Closes Illegal Tobacco Facilities and Raises Taxes
Russia closes illegal tobacco facilities and adds consumption tax with legal markers. Counterfeit products are decreasing.

Russia will be closing over 30 illegal tobacco production facilities and increasing consumer taxes by 121.5 billion rubles (approximately RMB 343.2 billion) due to the introduction of a legally-required stamp. This announcement was made by Artem Kiryanov, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma's Economic Policy Committee.


The senator noted that introducing labels across 14 product categories did not result in significant value growth for consumers. According to him, concerns raised during the implementation of the labeling system did not materialize.


According to Altam Kiryanov, counterfeit products are gradually decreasing based on the experience of the product group in labeling.


Thanks to the implementation of labeling, over 30 illegal tobacco production facilities have been shut down and 18 new legal facilities have emerged in Russia. It makes sense to extend labeling to new product groups.


Previously, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had proposed mandatory labeling for beer, including non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beverages.


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