Goods marking

Consumer goods marking – a source of additional money receipts in the state budget!

Consumer goods marking with Identification Marks was introduced in the Republic of Belarus in 2005 by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus with the aim to ensure the economic safety of the state, reduce illegal “shadow” circulation of certain categories of goods and protect population interests. The created system of marking of consumer goods has been adapted to the secure document management created in our Republic in 2002.

The Republic of Belarus is the first country in the world where the system of secure document management which includes manufacture and the account of all strict reporting forms produced in our Republic in the electronic databank and working out of new protection frames at state level has started to function.

It is important to note that an Identification Mark is not an Excise Stamp. An Identification Mark is a secure self-adhesive label to be fixed to any commodity unit produced or imported into the country (or its package). It has the unique identification number. An Identification Mark is a special fiscal certificate for each commodity unit.

Consumer goods marking with Identification Marks is the main highly efficient security feature of consumer market.

A six-month transition period has been provided for “painless”, gradual introduction of marking. Within this period producers and importers managed to prepare and start the commodity marking, and the trade sector – to fill the market with the marked commodity.

The procedure of the commodity marking with Identification Marks includes the following stages:

1. A producer or importer shall submit an application for purchase of identification marks to the tax inspectorate, stating the necessary number of identification marks and their types. The set of the documents proving legality of the commodity production or import is to be enclosed to the application.
2. The tax inspectorate shall consider the application and documents enclosed and shall issue the approval for identification marks which is input in the electronic data base.
3. The Goznak enterprises of the Republic of Belarus shall manufacture the identification marks and ensure their protection against counterfeit. The forms are sold on the base of applications of economic activities received from the electronic data bank at the shortest times. Here, a form may not be replaced, registered off the books or typed by PC and printed by printer. It is fixed legislatively. So at any moment the blank number and series may be traced by the tax or other controlling agencies by their request to the electronic data bank.
4. Having received the identification marks, the producer shall apply them on the goods within the production process. The importer shall mark the goods without outside help or at the producer’s before import to the customs territory of the country.

The Identification Marks are applied on the goods or packages thereof by means of automatic applicators what are easily built in the commodity processing line or by means of manual labeling guns which are used for manual application of stickers on the surfaces of products.

Applying Identification Marks to the beer containers at OJSC “Krinitsa”

Consumer goods marking with Identification Marks is not a discriminatory measure, as availability of Identification Marks proves legality of the commodity sales irrespective of the fact whether it was produced in the country territory or imported. The mark does not infringe any right and freedoms of consumer producers, importers or consumers.

According to the supervisory authorities of our country, a considerable amount of beer was sold in the «shadow» market.

So, in 2005, at the first stage they started to mark the malt beer, both imported to the Republic of Belarus and produced by domestic producers, for processing and testing of the system for commodity marking with Identification Marks; this created equal conditions for beer importers and domestic brewers.

Introduction of the system for commodity marking with identification marks changed the situation in the beer market in Belarus. As a result of the measures taken, the beer import increased in 2.7 times in 2005 as compared to 2004, including from the Russian Federation – in 4.1 times. While in 2004 the specific weight of the beer imported from the Russian Federation amounted to 50 % in the total volume of import, in 2005 it amounted to 90 %. It is explained by the fact that the legal supplier appeared in the market who had prepared to beer marking beforehand, and illegal suppliers disappeared. So, in the opinion of Baltika, the Russian Brewery, introduction of the beer marking enabled to adjust this market in the Republic of Belarus.

Tax and duty proceeds in the country’s budget only from beer - $244.1 million in 5 years of the system’ operation.

One should note that introduction of marking did not influence on supplies to the trading network and cost of marked beer, both produced domestically and imported. The sales were uninterrupted and with wide range.

The similar growth can be observed for other goods as well. For example, after introduction of marking in 2007 one could observe the positive dynamics of the production and import growth (in physical terms) for all commodity groups for the goods what are the most important for the Belarusian consumer market:

• mobile telephones – import increased in 3.2 times (domestic production of mobile telephones was absent), tax revenues to the budget increased in 2.9 times for this group;
• audio carriers – production increased in 2.1 times, import – in 2.3 times, taxes – in 1.5 times;
• footwear – production increased in 1.2 times, import – in 2.1 times;
• tea, coffee – production increased in 1.1 times, import – in 1.5 times;
• bioactive additives – production increased in 1.1 times, import – in 1.7 times.

At present there are 23 product groups being marked.

The design and production of the above-mentioned strict reporting forms with a unique and highly efficient security feature, i.e. Unigram, by Goznak enterprises greatly contributed to the process has developed by the Belarusian researchers.

The main priorities of the system of consumer goods marking:

• Protection of consumers against forged production.
• Increase in receipt of taxes from production realization.
• Reception full and trustworthy information about a market condition.
• Maintenance of economic safety and government control
• Struggle against the crimes connected with manufacture and a turn of forged and counterfeit production.

The system of secure document management allows:

• To enter the data about the goods into system in electronic form;
• To supervise the data about the goods transferred in system at each stage of its passage in system;
• To receive the information on each stage of passage of the goods;
• To conduct the register of all arrived and executed electronic documents;
• To provide confidentiality of processing and data transmission.

We offer:

• Assistance in development of the effective mechanism for the consumer goods protection for the government of any country or for the any global company by means of creation of electronic databank and introduction of consumer goods marking with Identification Marks.
• Development, production of Identification Marks and self-adhesive labels with Unigram for brand protection by the Belarus Goznak enterprises and further supply in necessary quantity and at the times stated.

If you are interested in our project we will be ready to answer all your questions by phone: +375 17 227-46-78, +375 44 739-16-96 or by e-mail: marketing@mpf-goznak.by.

Protection of your products against a counterfeit is a guarantee of your business success!