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Tobacco market participants expect positive effect from product marking

Assessing the risk of a possible growth of prices for cigarettes due to the introduction of the new system, experts are believe that products will not become more expensive for end-users

© Donat Sorokin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Tobacco industry experts expect to see a positive effect from the introduction of a product marking system, a pilot project started in January this year, experts told TASS.

According to the plans, in 2019 all tobacco products will have a digital code that carries data not only about the manufacturer, but also about the entire logistics chain from the assembly line to the points of sale. In the near future, as part of the pilot project, the first marked pack of cigarettes is expected to leave the assembly line.

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"Taking into account expected significant decline of the turnover of illegal products when marking is implemented, costs will be fully justified," Vice President Corporate Affairs at Philip Morris International in Russia Sergey Slipchenko said.

According to senior manager of Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Sergey Golovko, digital marking can become an important tool in the fight against illegal tobacco products. "Along with the stabilization of excise rates within the Eurasian Economic Union, the introduction of mandatory digital marking will help create conditions under which manufacturing and selling illegal products will become a lot riskier," he said.

Assessing the risk of a possible growth of prices for cigarettes due to the introduction of the new system, experts are believe that products will not become more expensive for end-users. Experts interviewed by TASS expect that the first results can be analyzed after the first phase of the pilot project in June this year.

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