The Russian government is considering new regulations making barcoding seafood products mandatory for traceability purposes – with a particular focus on sturgeon products, including caviar.
Russian Executive Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov has proposed an expansion of the list of products subject to mandatory barcoding in the country.
A report by WWF recently found that up to one-fifth of all caviar and sturgeon meat sold in key markets is illegal. A survey by Russia’s Institute of Finance – a branch of the country’s Ministry of Finance – found similar results for the seafood industry. The survey discovered that up to 26 percent of the country’s seafood market is made up of counterfeit production, primarily in the canned fish market.
The Institute of Finance’s research into a potential barcoding initiative found it would affect 1,800 companies, with each barcode costing roughly RUB 0.7 (USD 0.009, EUR 0.008) per item.
Currently, the only traceability initiative in place for Russian seafood is a veterinary certificate provided by Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance. However, it doesn’t cover all potential traceability issues and can be manipulated more easily than a digital barcode or QR code, the department's head, Sergey Dankvert, said in a statement supporting the barcoding proposal.
The proposal came on the heels of an investigation by the National Center for Safety in Fishery and Aquaculture, which published the results of its own survey earlier this year. Experts tested 90 cans of saury from January through October and found 35 percent of the products were substituting one fish for another. In 30 percent of the cans, saury was replaced by sardine iwashi, and in another 5 percent, it was replaced with Pacific herring – both cheaper species.
The barcoding of products would expand the government’s efforts to avoid counterfeiting of national foods. Mandatory barcoding has already been implemented for the country's poultry sector, with a violation of the rules a criminal act resulting in fines or incarceration of up to three years.
However, Fishery Union President Alexander Panin expressed his skepticism of the initiative, according to Russia’s Fishnews media agency. Panin said it's common knowledge in the industry which companies are performing product subsitutions and he called for the government to take direct, punitive action against them. Panin said tools to stop bad actors exist, but a lack of enforcement action has allowed the situation to persist.
“It’s necessary to fight against these producers and get government watchdogs to close them,” he said.
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