The main results and difficulties encountered in the process of implementation of pilot projects of labeling of goods were discussed at the working meeting chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin.

Representatives of business community spoke from Atameken NCE, Association of importers of retail and wholesale of shoes, producers of soft drinks and juices, pharmaceutical and medical products "PharmMedIndustry of Kazakhstan", as well as light industry. The meeting was also attended by the heads of the state bodies concerned, the single operator of marking and traceability of goods Kazakhtelecom JSC.

According to the data of the single operator, from the moment of introduction of compulsory marking in Kazakhstan to date 69.1 thousand natural fur products, 3.3 billion tobacco products, 102.4 million footwear products have been marked.

However, there is a number of significant moments that hinder the process of implementation of the project. So, according to the businessmen, it is primarily technical problems and shortcomings of the information labeling system. However, at the same time representatives of domestic footwear manufacturers believe that the introduction of mandatory labeling is in the interests of business.

"As representatives of the domestic business, we support the mandatory labeling of goods, as it supports the interests of domestic producers, creates a level playing field for competition. If there are technical problems, they must be solved, and we are ready to continue to participate in the process of introducing the labeling system," Anara Kairzhanova, representative of Qaz Textile Industry said.

More problematic questions were voiced by wholesale and retail importers of goods. According to the representative of the group of companies Inditex Anton Serdaridi, today there is no integration between the National Catalogue of Goods and the system GS1-Kazakhstan, there are problems in applying the label codes in customs warehouses, in e-commerce when trading with labeled goods. According to Ainur Kaidarova, representing the Association of Importers of Retail and Wholesale of Footwear, the introduction of the labeling process leads to higher prices for goods and, consequently, a reduction in the number of retailers of footwear.

Representing the interests of producers of soft drinks and juices Aliya Mamytbaeva added that soft drinks is a market of low prices, where profits are derived from the volume of sales. It is simply unprofitable to create counterfeit products. Considering that the cost of production is low, the cost of labeling it is too high.

Association of manufacturers of pharmaceutical and medical products "PharmMedIndustry of Kazakhstan" stated among others about problems with registration of foreign manufacturers in the system of marking and traceability of goods, distribution of marked medicines.

"The main objective of the implementation of the product labeling project is to ensure free and legal circulation of goods, transparency. We have to consider all issues for each commodity group with interested participants," Serik Zhumangarin summarized the results of the meeting.

For reference: digital marking and traceability of goods as a tool to combat the shadow market was launched in Kazakhstan in 2018. As of October 4, 2022, mandatory labeling has been introduced for 4 commodity groups: fur and tobacco products, footwear, medicines. Pilot projects are underway to label packaged water, sugar-containing drinks and jewelry.