Russian system Chestny Znak (Honest sign)

In 2019, Russia started the implementation of the Chestny Znak (Honest Sign) labeling system. Chestny Znak is a system created to control the originality of a product.

The manufacturer applies a unique code to the packaging, which can be scanned in Chestny Znak’s application. It will indicate the country of origin, the supplier’s name, expiration date, permitting documentation, and the stage of sale of the product.

In 2024, the following goods are subject to mandatory labeling: tobacco, fur coats and fur products, shoes, medicines, tires, perfumes, cameras, clothing, bed linen and other textiles, dairy products, packaged water, beer, and lowalcohol drinks, antiseptics, dietary supplements, medical products, bicycles, caviar.

The list of goods is constantly expanding, so the current list should be checked on the ocial website of the Chestny Znak system. Order of the Government of Russia No. 792-r of 28.04.2018 approved the list of goods.

The company must independently register in the monitoring system by installing special software and connect to the electronic document management system. Also, for labeling, the company needs special equipment: a 2D barcode scanner, which will read the codes and transmit information about the sale of a specic item to the Chestny Znak system.

For companies that sell goods at retail, an online cash register that supports a labeling system is required.

If a company is a manufacturer or importer, it adds all its products to the system, attaches certicates and declarations of conformity, and indicates information for each product unit.

Then, it is necessary to order codes for each item in the system, print them, and attach them to each item of goods. If goods are imported from abroad, this must be done before they arrive at Russian customs. There are particular logistics and customs warehouses where marking codes are applied.

When shipping the goods, the buyer must create a universal transfer document (UPD), signed with an enhanced qualied electronic signature.

When receiving goods, a company engaged in wholesale or retail trade must read the marking codes upon acceptance, accept the UPD, and sign it with an electronic signature.

Products are marked in dierent ways: using RFID tags (these are microchips that are manufactured at Goznak) and Data Matrix barcodes (a two-dimensional unique barcode).

There are severe fines for violating labeling rules and trading without labeling; in some cases, fines reach up to 1,000,000 rubles. All discovered unlabeled products will be conscated by Rospotrebnadzor officers and then destroyed by court decisions.

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