Standards - eco-certification and labelling in Russia

Today it is possible to have voluntary eco-certification in Russia which can be based on western standards. It is essential that the supply of certification services develops fast enough, because the demand for these services is big and this type of activity is very profitable. A negative result is that there are many companies which have eco-certification based of their own standards, and they are by no means world standards. But I won’t deal with companies like this in my report.

Picture: Russian Organic Products

Recently, eco-certification in Russia was carried out by western inspection companies on the basis of standards in other countries (Europe, USA, Japan) depending on the producers' target market.  

At the present time, two systems of eco-certification are available in Russia. They are very close to the proposed international standard. They are officially registered by GOSSTANDARD, the Federal Agency for technical regulation and metrology. They are:

- a system of voluntary certification for ecological agricultural production, “ECO NIVA”, on the basis of the private standards of ECO NIVA;

- a system of voluntary certification “BIO”, an “eco-control” company. They work on the basis of the following eco-standards:

- "AGROSOFIA”  “concerned with ecological agriculture, nature management and the corresponding labelling of eco-products”

- Resolution of Economic European Unit No.2092/91 “about ecological agriculture and the corresponding marking of agricultural products and food products”

- American standards NOP (National Organic Program) 

- Standards JAS (Japanese agricultural standards)

- Standards of biodynamic production “Demeter”

Depending on a producers' choice, the certification is issued using one of the above standards. That is why, in the application for certification, a customer mentions in what markets he is going to sell – domestic, EU, the USA, Japan or some other country.

At the present time AGROSOFIA is working on harmonizing Russian standards with the main world standards. As a result, it may be possible in the future to get a Russian certificate that will be accepted in the local market and in other markets (Europe, the USA, Japan, etc.)

All of the systems share the same problem. Without promotion of the standards to Russian consumers, they have no value in selling products or establishing a market.

Even an educated consumer who understands the meaning of “organic” or “bio” does not know the symbols of standards such as USDA, Demeter, Naturland, Bioland, Geae, Ekowin etc.

So I hope you understand my insistence that the first priority in the Russian market is a consumer campaign to help them understand the standards that exist and what the meaning is for good health. Producers will also have to invest in promotion and popularization of their activity in the market. It does not matter if it is Russian or foreign companies who make these investments in the market.

Organic products imported into Russia today need to get a ROSTEST certificate that confirms quality and safety according to Russian requirements for all traditional food products. Its symbol must appear on the label. However, some distributors, who want to attract consumers interested in organic products, print on the label information that this product is produced in eco-areas without herbicides, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, is not GMO and has not been subjected to radiation treatment.

Factors that slow the development of the eco-market in Russia

- the absence of a legislative and normative base and common terminology for eco-products. Modern consumers misuse terms like “ecological”, “organic”, “bio”, “eco”, because they believe they all mean more or less the same thing.

- a lack of statistical information

- a lack of advertising campaigns to educate consumers

- the absence of strong retail leadership.

To overcome these difficulties, producers, distributors, certification companies and retailers will need to provide advertising campaigns aimed at the consumer.  Companies in the market seem to understand the need for such advertising campaigns.

To sum up, I would like to say that the present situation in the Russian market is that there seems to be good consumer demand and producers ready to satisfy this demand. With appropriate advertising and promotion, it will be possible to develop a large new eco-products market in the near future.