Kazakhstan initiates mandatory electronic label management for tobacco products

1月20日哈萨克斯坦财政部、国家Revenue Committee, Public Service Department Director, Kasa Kobayeva, said at a media briefing that Kazakhstan plans to start the second mandatory labeling management of tobacco products from April 1, 2021. Stage work.

Card said that as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakhstan will implement mandatory labeling management for tobacco products, and tobacco product manufacturers, importers and distributors are required to participate. Mandatory label management is implemented in two phases. The first phase will start on October 1, 2020. Electronic labels will be applied to cigarettes with and without filters. The second phase will begin on April 1, 2021, to attach electronic labels to other tobacco products such as cigars, cigarette sticks, liquid cigarettes, and electronic cigarettes. From October 1, 2021, all tobacco products that are not affixed with electronic labels will be prohibited from continuing to circulate. Violators will be fined 200-500 times the monthly accounting base and confiscated. If the circumstances are serious, criminal responsibility will be investigated in accordance with the law. .

协议ing to the electronic label implementation measures, manufacturers and importers will affix Data Matrix two-dimensional code encrypted electronic labels on tobacco products to replace the paper consumption tax labels previously affixed to tobacco products. When selling tobacco products, the QR code information is scanned and sent to the data operator, and enters the "commodity traceability labeling system". Products that have been sold will be marked in the system and withdrawn from circulation. In this way, the information system can track the entire process of the circulation of labeled commodities.

Card said that the implementation of mandatory electronic labeling will help reduce the illegal circulation of tobacco products, ensure consumer safety, create a competitive environment for manufacturers, and help reduce the market supervision expenditures of national regulatory agencies.

The authorized unit in Kazakhstan responsible for the construction and operation of the mandatory labeling and traceability system for commodities is Kazakhstan Telecommunications Corporation. At present, manufacturing companies that have participated in the mandatory electronic label management of tobacco products include industry giants such as Japan Tobacco Company (JTI), Philip Morris, British American Tobacco (BAT), and Imperial Tobacco.