In Russia, a new law on organic food has been passed. The new regulations aim to ensure the quality of the products and to inform consumers comprehensively. It is to come into force on January 1, 2020.
In particular, the law determines new requirements to the marking of organic food. Furthermore, a special register for the products will be created. These measures are intended to keep participants of bad faith out of the market and to improve the quality of the products.
In addition, new rules concerning the manufacturing, storage, transport and distribution are made. From now on, organic food has to be manufactured, stored and delivered separately from all other food. The use of pesticides, hormonal means, agrochemicals, antibiotics and growth factors will be prohibited (except it has been permitted explicitly). Environmentally unfriendly packaging material is also not allowed.
Specially accredited bodies will be tasked with the certification.
For non-compliance with the new rules, administrative penalties will be imposed. For example, the unlawful use of the organic marking will be fined with at least 100.000 rubles.
