During the meeting, the leaders of the consumer market leaders touched upon the existing problems of self-regulation of the food market, as well as further steps to improve the Code of fair practices of relationships between retail chains and suppliers of consumer goods (CDR) and increase the efficiency of its application.

The meeting participants unanimously confirmed their readiness to develop self-regulation processes in the consumer goods market, noting that the positive experience gained in cooperating on resolving conflicts between suppliers and retail chains, including in the framework of the Commission on the use of the PLC, shows the significant potential for such cooperation as effective long-term alternative to further tightening of state regulation.

At the same time, representatives of the industry noted the existence of a whole range of problems requiring serious discussion. First, it concerns the issues of compliance of the Code by market participants and the implementation of decisions of the Commission.

Following the meeting, the leaders of major trading companies and food manufacturers agreed with the following:

Participants remain supporters of the development of self-regulation in the consumer (food) market. In this regard, they confirm the action of the CDC and agree with the inclusion of the relevant sections (references) in supply contracts.

Participants consider it necessary to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of self-regulation by improving the work of the Commission on the application of the CDP, ensuring the regularity of its work, careful analysis of conflict situations and a balanced objective analysis of possible decisions, monitoring decisions taken and developing positive (negative) incentives for participants for interested participants. The participants confirm the need to modernize the KDP in the light of changes in government regulations, general business conditions, as well as established practices and decisions of the Commission.

Participants agree that the development of self-regulation should have a high priority on the agenda of company executives and are ready to regularly (at least once a year) discuss current issues in this area. In confirmation of the seriousness of their intentions, the participants are ready to organizationally support the development of self-regulation by placing the responsibility for the letter and spirit of the KDP on the relevant specialist (KDP-controller).

Participants support the transition from regulation through the establishment of prohibitions and sanctions for their violation to smart regulation (smart regulation), based on positive incentives to adhere to best practices. Participants agree that proposals for a change in government regulation should be comprehensively reviewed by market participants and taken in cases where the balance of interests requires taking into account other higher-level goals. Achievement of commercial individual participants to the detriment of the rest by regulative change is not welcome.

As Andrei Sharonov, Chairman of the Commission on the Use of the KDP, noted: “Self-regulation in the consumer market of Russia will work only if the leaders of the companies are really supported and they are ready to accept the development of self-regulation as their strategic task.”

State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Viktor Evtukhov considers it extremely important to give new impetus to the development of self-regulation in the relationship between trade and manufacturers. The deputy head of the department said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia supports these initiatives and is ready to engage in their implementation. “It is necessary to stop tightening the regulatory nuts. You need to go in a civilized way and negotiate. In addition, of course, this is possible only in the case of strict adherence to the agreements developed by the companies themselves. How to encourage them to do this, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia will think together with the new leadership of the Commission on the use of the KDP.”

Earlier, Timofey Nizhegorodtsev, head of the Department for Control over Social Sphere and Trade of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, said: “Together with the market participants, we want to restart the process of self-regulation in the field of trade, rethinking previous experience of this work. In particular, after conducting a critical analysis of the existing self-regulatory rules and their impact in general on the practice of self-regulation. Based on the results of the analysis, prepare proposals for modernizing the architecture of the self-regulation system and introduce mechanisms capable of resolving various contradictions and achieve unconditional execution of the decisions developed in the process of self-regulation”.

Expert and analytical support of the self-regulation process will be carried out by the Consumer Market Development Center of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, established in 2018.

Further steps will be announced later.

Reference

• In 2009, the first “Law on Trade” was adopted.
• In 2010, ten All-Russian associations of producers, suppliers, retailers and consumers of food products and raw materials established the Intersectoral Expert Council for the Development of the Consumer Market (MES).
• In 2012, the members of the MES signed the “Code of Good Practices for Relationships between Trading Networks and Consumer Products Suppliers” (KDP).
• In 2013, the Commission for the use of the PLC was formed of 10 members: three representatives from networks, three from suppliers, three independent members and a responsible secretary.
• Since 2013, the Commission has considered more than 20 unique cases and more than 100 typical situations.
• In 2017, the preparation of a new version of the code (KDP 2.0) began.
• On October 18, 2018, during the 57th meeting of the Association of Participants of the Consumer Market "Inter-Industry Expert Council" (MEA), the President of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, Andrei Sharonov, was elected the new Chairman of the Commission on the use of the KDP.