In anticipation of the introduction of marking, the flow of gray shoe imports to Russia increased

Director of the National Shoe Union, Natalia Demidova, speaking at the Russian Retail Week, noted that before the law on mandatory labeling of shoes in the Russian Federation came into force, the flow of counterfeit shoes to Russia increased, Retail.ru writes.

“If before the start of work on labeling, we estimated the illegal footwear market at 35–40%, now this figure has exceeded 60%,” Natalya Demidova said in her speech at the Russian Retail Week forum. - Like mushrooms, shops where you can buy analogues of brands at low prices - “Funny prices”, “Planet of clothes and shoes” and others, clothing markets remain uncontrolled. Illegal is the biggest scourge of the shoe market, breeding corruption. Suppliers of illegal goods pay for its movement at all stages, while corruption is supported not only by entrepreneurs, but also by the buyers themselves, who purchase for 500 rubles. branded sneakers. Competition is undermined between law-abiding legal and illegal players who do not pay customs duties, VAT, or other taxes. For some reason, only legal companies are controlled in our country, while illegal ones exist according to their own rules.

According to the National Shoe Union, at present, 1400 companies are registered in the shoe labeling system, 65 million codes have been allocated, while the annual volume of the footwear market in Russia is estimated at about 600 million pairs per year.

She also noted that to date, the system for marking residues has not been fully developed. In this regard, in her opinion, small and medium-sized enterprises may need special difficulties, which will require competent specialists, whose number in the market is limited, and whose services are expensive.