The Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselhoznadzor has proposed that the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry subject feed additives to mandatory labelling, in an effort to improve market transparency.
All types of feed additives, including amino acids, probiotics and vitamins, would be concerned, according to a letter sent by Rosselhoznadzor to the ministry in May 2025. The veterinary agency wants to label additives with electronic tags containing information about the product's origin, content, and expiration date. The key rationale behind the initiative, as Rosselhoznadzor said, is "to prevent import and sale of unregistered production," as electronic tags are difficult to fake.
Over the past few years, the Russian government has consistently imposed mandatory labelling of goods on the consumer market, facing resistance from the business community each time. However, the business community has complained about additional costs and technical issues.
For example, mandatory labelling is projected to trigger a price hike on the Russian pet food market in 2025, commented Kirill Dmitriev, president of the National Association of Pet Industry. Under the original plan, it was estimated that the labelling, fully introduced from March 1, 2025, would only trigger a 1% rise in prices on the domestic pet food market. However, Dmitriev expressed doubts that such a target is realistic, as the actual costs turn out to be higher.
Besides, Dmitriev said, players in the value chain need to purchase expensive equipment to scan the electronic tags, and there are still questions yet to be answered about their durability. If the electronic tag is damaged during storage or transportation, the product is legally prohibited from being sold to customers, he explained.
The Russian feed industry also shares concerns about the introduction of mandatory labelling, commented Sergey Mikhnyuk, executive director of the Russian National Feed Union, explaining that "at the moment there is no established practice and accumulated retrospective statistics that would show the effectiveness of introducing product labelling."
"At present, there are no problems with the import and sale of unregistered feed additives in Russia," Mikhnyuk said, explaining that any feed additive that enters the turnover in the Eurasian Economic Community – a trade bloc of five post-Soviet countries - is registered by one of the countries.
"Not all feed additives flowing from country to country can be monitored, but this can hardly be called a problem," Mikhnyuk said.
