FAQ on mandatory labeling of shoes: Everything that you did not know and were afraid to ask

We collected the most popular questions on mandatory labeling of goods and tried to answer them.

When does mandatory shoe labeling start?
Mandatory marking of shoes starts from July 1, 2019.
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After July 1, 2019 only tagged shoes will be sold?
To answer this question, let's look at the dates and stages of labeling shoes. From July 1 to October 1, 2019, all participants of the shoe market will have to register with the Honest Sign information system (for all participants to acquire a private key and certificate), manufacturers and importers will create applications for access to equipment for registration of stamp production.

From October 1, 2019 to February 1, 2020, manufacturers, importers must receive equipment (emission recorders), and all participants in the chain must mark their shoe remains. From February 1, 2020 it will be prohibited to sell unmarked shoes.

Who will be affected by the labeling?
Manufacturers, sellers and distributors of shoes. The latter - because the footwear produced abroad should be delivered to the Russian Federation already marked (before crossing the customs). Since not all small foreign footwear manufacturers will be ready to immediately meet the labeling requirements, distributors (importers) will take on this responsibility at first.

Will the labeling be canceled?
Definitely not. Moreover, by 2024 it is planned that only labeled products will be sold in Russia.

What shoes should be labeled?
The point is clear that the case is dark. There is no specific list of goods, only the list of JCFA2 (15.20.11, 15.20.12, 15.20.13, 15.20.14, 15.20.21, 15.20.29, 15.20.31, 15.20.32, 32.30.12) and TN is provided Foreign Economic Activity (6401, 6402, 6403, 6404, 6405).

But ski boots have to label?
Well, where do without them? Code 32.30.12.

Who is responsible for organizing the labeling of shoes?
The project is supervised and controlled by the operator of the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (TSRPT), the Ministry of Finance, Digital Development, Industry and Trade, Tax, Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Customs Service and the Federal Security Service.

Why were the DataMatrix codes chosen for labeling shoes?
Compared to the same RFID tags, DataMatrix codes are much cheaper. They can be recognized even with partial damage. DataMatrix codes store a large amount of information, but at the same time they take up little space on the packaging.



What does the DataMatrix code consist of?
The DataMatrix code consists of:
- identification code that determines the position of the goods in the marking system of a single catalog of goods (GTIN, which is issued by GS1);
- individual serial number and crypto-tail, which protects against fakes. It is generated by a special system operator that must be installed for each legal entity;
- Product Recognizer - the first 4 characters of the code of the Commodity Nomenclature for Foreign Economic Activity of the Eurasian Economic Union. With it, the system finds out what kind of product was marked;
- the “electronic signature” used to control the disposal of goods when selling using an online cash register — 31 labels will be printed on the label. If you have problems with reading at the checkout, the seller can enter it manually.



How is the labeling and tracking process?
- The shoe manufacturer sends a request for an identifier to the MDT operator;
- that generates a unique crypto-protected code and sends it to the manufacturer;
- the manufacturer prints this code in the form of DataMatrix and puts it on the packaging of shoes;
- when importing goods, selling them, moving and even writing off DataMatrix code is scanned;
- all this information is accumulated in the information base of the MDGP;
- codes are removed from circulation after the shoes are sold to end users.

Stamps can be used repeatedly?
Each product must be marked, and the brand is unique. It can be printed and used only once (the exception is the return of goods by the buyer).

What happens if the buyer returns the product?
If the buyer returns the product, the seller will have to re-label it independently if the brand is damaged. Only after that the shoes will return to circulation.



How to get out of circulation safety shoes that the company bought for themselves?
If a company purchases safety shoes without a goal to resell, then it needs to familiarize itself with clauses 65 and 66 “Methodological recommendations for participants of the experiment on marking with identification tools and monitoring the turnover of shoe products complying with EAEU HS codes 6401-6405 in the Russian Federation”, and send to the marking system indicated in their data.

What to do with the remnants of labeling shoes?
Remains must be marked before February 1, 2020. Moreover, from October 1, 2019 to February 1, 2020, balances can be marked with simplified codes. On the website of the Center, it is said that retailers will have to sell such shoes within two years from the moment of putting products into circulation.

Simplified company codes can be obtained from July 1 to October 1, 2019. To do this, you will not need an emission recorder - you can get them in your personal account in the system itself. As soon as the producer receives the emission recorder, he will have to mark the goods with his help.

And the markets will also affect the law on labeling shoes?
And the markets too. In accordance with paragraph 62 of the guidelines mentioned in the previous answer, they need to transfer data to the marking system within 3 days from the date of sale. How exactly - is still unknown, lawmakers are only working on this issue.

Will buyers also have to do something?
If you just bought yourself, for example, sneakers, then no. Marking code was written off at the time of registration of the sale at the checkout. But if you plan to resell this pair in the future, then you are automatically subject to the law on marking, and formally you need to mark the shoes and put them into circulation. Another thing, whether it will be done. Initially, it was planned to create centers of ethics and labeling, which could be addressed by small retailers who do not have their own facilities and equipment for labeling goods. However, it later became clear that the services of such companies would be quite expensive. Therefore, they will create such centers or not - is still unknown.

What happens if you produce or sell unmarked shoes?
Penalties for violations of the production and sale of unmarked shoes are governed by art. 15.12 of the Administrative Code.

For the production of unmarked shoes, officials will receive a fine of 5 to 10 thousand rubles, legal entities - from 50 to 100 thousand rubles. In both cases, with the confiscation of items of violation.

For the sale of unmarked shoes, its transportation and storage, the individual entrepreneur receives a fine of 2 to 4 thousand rubles, officials - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, legal entities - from 50 to 300 thousand rubles. In all cases, the shoes are confiscated.

If we are talking about a major violation - the cost of the entire party exceeds 1.5 million rubles (in accordance with article 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a large or very large amount), then criminal liability ensues under Art. 171.1 of the Criminal Code.

How to prepare for shoe labeling?
First, register with the Honest Sign information system. Secondly, make sure in advance that cash register software and trading equipment can work with DataMatrix codes. And if necessary, replace devices (for example, one-dimensional barcode scanners with two-dimensional ones), buy additional ones (for example, label printers for remarking goods, data collection terminals with software for warehouse and goods acceptance) and install software for creating and printing labels (we recommend BarTender ). As our practice has shown, this is also not the easiest step, because not all scanners correctly read DataMatrix.

If we talk in more detail about the cash register software, then its modernization is necessary in order for the software to learn to perceive the DataMatrix codes and send the read data to the CCP, which, in turn, will send them to the CRF and write it in the fiscal drive. For example, we have already done this work, and the cash software Profi-T meets the requirements for mandatory labeling of goods.

Are scanners really that bad?
According to the Levada-Center study , 38% of stores are equipped with 2D scanners, 17% use one-dimensional. In 41% of stores, no scanners are used at all.

A survey of participants in the shoe market, conducted by Pilot experts, showed that 66.7% of respondents did not have commercial equipment ready for the start of shoe marking. Most of the respondents (among them retailers and distributors) reported the need to replace one-dimensional with two-dimensional scanners.

And what other costs will be needed?
At a minimum, consumables will also be needed (the same labels for printers):
- only thermal transfer type of print is suitable for labeling; this ensures long-term storage of the label;
- media type self-adhesive paper or film, paper labels, tape, tags;
- additionally ribbon for printing.

According to our calculations, for 10,000 pairs of shoes you will need to buy consumables on the order of 6,000 rubles, which naturally affects the final price of shoes for buyers.

What features of labeling are there for manufacturers and importers of shoes?
Manufacturers and importers of shoes will need to get a GTIN for each model supplied.

How long does it take to place an order for stamps from the personal account of the Center;
Take for example a small company that produces about 500 pairs of shoes per day (each of them needs a separate GTIN). To place an order for receipt in the personal account of the Center of Digital Marketing of brands for 500 GTIN, 2 employees are required. They will be engaged in this process throughout the working day (8 hours), while they will not have time even for lunch and the right to make mistakes. Agree, this is unrealistic and violates the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

With each release of the seasonal collection, the operation for ordering stamps is repeated. Therefore, a reasonable solution seems to automate the process, but not all will be able to do it. For example, we, in Pilot, developed a utility for manufacturers Easy Label (to automate the process of obtaining stamps from the personal account of the CPRT and convert them into a corporate format for printing labels) and “Server Marking” (created for piecemeal accounting (separately from ERP) labeled goods).



Is data uploading just as difficult?
Yes, if you work without automation, each file from the CPRT with the orders of the stamps must be manually downloaded. And then also create a corporate-style label and print it.

How to transfer data to manufacturers?
If the retailer orders goods from a foreign manufacturer, then he needs to receive codes in his personal account of the Center, to create corporate-style labels from them and send them to the production in electronic form.

Why do we need piece-wise accounting of shoes and what to do with it?
Manufacturers, distributors and retailers information systems that are responsible for the production, storage and logistics, keep track of goods in the context of articles, quantities. However, they do not take into account the movement of a specific unit of goods. However, the introduction of marking implies just the emergence of piecemeal accounting, since products are marked with unique codes. Therefore, there is a need to change the business processes in the context of accounting for each pair of shoes. As a rule, the retailer has several information systems. Therefore, it has two ways: either to upgrade each of them in order to implement piecemeal accounting, or to create another system from scratch and integrate with it to meet the labeling requirements. Pilot has a “Server of Marking” as such a system.

Want to know more about shoe labeling?

“Pilot” invites you to take part in a free webinar dedicated to mandatory labeling of shoes. It will be held on May 22 at 11:00. Register for the webinar here .

Within an hour, our speaker, Yevgeny Yaitsky, head of sales to corporate customers and partners of Pilot, will talk about the general rules and deadlines for product labeling, footwear marking, solutions for retailers, importers and manufacturers.

He will also advise what to look for when choosing label printers and barcode scanners, share Pilot's customer cases, give a step-by-step action plan for retail, importer and manufacturer, and, of course, answer questions from webinar participants.

All registered webinar participants will receive a PDF-brochure "How Russian businesses comply with the rules for labeling shoes" and a presentation of the speaker.

If you want to know more, we have voiced the reaction of market players here , and gave recommendations on equipment here .