Sergey Korshunov: Additional labeling of organic products is meaningless

Earlier, Maxim Ivanov, a researcher at the Center for Industrial Economics of the Financial Research Institute of Russia, stated that labeling in the field of organic products is necessary and will make the movement of goods transparent, making it difficult for falsified products to enter the market.

Sergey Korshunov expressed the opinion of the Union on this issue, noting that additional digital labeling will only lead to an increase in the price of organic products: ‘This is an excessive and unnecessary additional financial burden on a few and poor agricultural producers and on the state budget. The existing system of quality control in organic agriculture by the method of certification of producers works quite effectively for the stage of market development at which we are located.’

The expert stated rather sharply that all legislative measures and innovations should stimulate the development of the industry, and not organize ‘feeding from its participants’.

Head of the project office of the Union of Organic Agriculture, Yakov Lyubovedsky, supported his colleague, saying in social networks: ‘There is still no market as such, and they are already coming up with redundant supervision mechanisms. All over the world, most of the certificates follow a simplified scheme, according to the PGS IFOAM method, even according to ISO, they do not bother, and in Russia they create unnecessary obstacles for organic producers.’