Digital apparel labeling

Digital Clothing Passport

Main article: Digital passport of clothing

2024

Launch of blocking system at cash desks selling illegal clothes and shoes

In Russia, on November 1, 2024, a system was introduced to automatically block the sale of illegal goods at cash desks, covering eight new categories of products, including clothing, shoes, perfumes, dietary supplements and other goods. The decision is enshrined in a government decree.

According to TASS, when scanning the marking code, the ticket office sends data to the Honest Sign system, which checks the legality of the goods. Blocking is carried out when expired products are detected, violations in pricing or there is no information about the marking code. The new control system is aimed at protecting consumers from low-quality products and ensuring transparency of trade in the Russian market.

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Freepik

Revaz Yusupov, Deputy General Director of the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies, notes the effectiveness of the system on the example of other categories of goods. Over the previous six months of work, it was possible to prevent the sale of 24.9 million units of counterfeit tobacco products and 9.5 million units of goods of unknown origin.

The first stage of the introduction of the system began on April 1, 2023 with the control of tobacco products and draft beer. Since May 1, 2023, the mechanism has spread to water and dairy products, allowing to block the sale of 18.4 million liters of expired dairy products and 30 million liters of counterfeit products.

Anna Orlova, co-chairman of the digital initiatives committee of the Association of Retail Companies, announces the readiness of retailers for innovations, since the verification processes have already been worked out on other categories of goods.

The system also prevented the sale of 13.7 million liters of expired beer in kegs and 12 million liters of counterfeit beer. In the bottled water segment, 56 million liters of counterfeit products, 7 million liters of expired goods and more than 53 million liters of products of unknown origin were blocked.^[1]

Decision to introduce mandatory digital labeling of swimsuits, gloves and children's clothing

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order that expanded the list of clothes for mandatory digital labeling. The corresponding document was published on March 27, 2024.

It follows from it that the list of light industry products, the mandatory labeling of which begins on April 1, 2024, has been expanded by 12 items. It includes: underwear, swimwear, hosiery, gloves and mittens, ties (including butterflies) and headscarves, hats, children's clothes, leggings and hammocks, T-shirts, fufaiki peñuara, etc.

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Unsplash

Now the entire industry of light industry in Russia will be included in the state marking system "Honest Sign." This means that the tendency to whitewash the industry will continue - the light industry market has already whitewashed by 33% for those goods where labeling has been introduced. Of course, it will still be necessary to make changes to the relevant rules - this applies to both light industry and dietary supplements and antiseptics, - said Revaz Yusupov, deputy general director of the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (operator of the state marking system "Honest Sign"), whose words are quoted by TASS.

Anna Petrushina, head of the CRPT commodity group, recalled that labeling of light industry goods is being introduced in stages, and it has already shown its effectiveness in combating illegal trafficking. So, for example, the illegal shoe market decreased by a third, in other light industry products, illegal turnover also decreased.

In March 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Trade supported the industry's proposal and proposed giving business an additional two months to house the remains of imported products that are subject to mandatory labeling from April 1, 2024. We are talking about outerwear made of faux fur, sports and ski suits, separate overalls, knitted men's shirts, men's suits, jackets, trousers, blouses, shawls, scarves, dresses, skirts, men's and women's jackets, coats, raincoats.^[2]

Government of the Russian Federation Order of March 27, 2024 No. 710-r

2022

New RFID tags for labeling overalls have been developed in Russia

At the end of October 2022, the Siltek group of companies presented new UHF RFID-tags for labeling textile products that can be subjected to hard industrial washing and dry cleaning - overalls, medical suits, linen stock of hotels and medical and preventive institutions. Read more here.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade approved the timing of the launch of digital labeling

The Ministry of Industry and Trade approved the timing of the launch of digital clothing labeling. The corresponding draft government decree developed by the department was supported by the business community, including the Russian Union of Clothing Manufacturers (RSPO), the Association of Retail Companies (AKORT), as well as individual companies - Lamoda, Vostok-Service-Special Complex JSC, Technoavia, Sportmaster and Snezhnaya Koroleva. On August 26, 2022, TASS was told about this by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The labelling will extend to faux fur clothing, tracksuits and ski suits, blazers, trousers, shorts, overalls, shirts, blouses, suits, skirts, dresses, sweaters, outerwear (coats, jackets, raincoats, windbreakers, felt clothing), shawls, scarves, ties, bow ties and neckerchiefs, the ministry said. These light industry products will begin to be labeled in Russia from June 1, 2023.

The timing of the launch of digital clothing labeling has been approved

By the end of August 2022, in the Honest Sign digital labeling system, the list of light industry products includes: clothing made of natural and artificial leather, knitted blouses, coats, half violos, capes, cloaks, jackets, windbreakers, storm jackets, fur coats.

The press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia that the market faces the problem of illegal trafficking in light industry products. For example, importers import natural fur under the guise of artificial, a source in the trade market explained. Consumers purchasing light industry goods cannot visually determine whether light industry goods are labeled or not, and therefore a large number of complaints about violations are sent in cases where there are virtually no violations, which complicates the work of control bodies, the Ministry of Industry and Trade notes.

AKORT noted that the initiative to label light industry goods will unify work with suppliers and consumers of this category of goods, and will also simplify the life of networks.^[3]

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