Russia has put into force a dairy technical regulation that should clearly separate real milk from products based on it, including milk drinks and composite products. Stores will get new names, and producers will have to reissue certificates for all dairy products within six months. Authorities say the regulation will not raise prices, though experts and producers dispute its impact on the market and demand for natural milk.
Yesterday, Russia introduced a dairy technical regulation which, as stated in the text of the document, "is aimed at protecting the life and health of the population, as well as ensuring the reliability of information about the name, composition and consumer properties of milk and dairy products"This means that stores will see previously unseen names: dairy composite products, milk-containing products, and even by-products of milk processing. According to Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, "only what a cow produces will now be called milk, not a whitish, cloudy liquid, the so-called reconstituted milk from powder." Accordingly, the "whitish, cloudy liquid" will become a milk drink and other products from the new product line.
Minister of Agriculture Alexei Gordeyev hastened to reassure the public that the introduction of the regulation would not lead to higher prices for dairy products. According to the minister, there are no grounds for this. At present, milk production in the country is growing, there are large stocks of dairy products, so no price increase is expected, Gordeyev explained.
But the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Gennady Onishchenko, is not ready to give a clear forecast. "If we live by the laws of the market, then whole milk should become more expensive, and the milk drink should become cheaper. But Russia would not be Russia if that were the case," says the country's chief sanitary doctor.
In turn, agricultural producers cherish the dream that natural milk will naturally rise in price. "We communicate with people, and they still want to drink real milk. Let them even pay 40 rubles, but they know that it is natural milk," says Vladimir Balyuk, chairman of the agricultural cooperative.
According to the chairman of the Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues, Valentin Denisov, about 15% of the current unregulated milk will become milk drinks. The Russian Dairy Union gives an even more modest forecast - 13%. And that is the national average. After all, there are regions in Russia where practically all milk is powdered. For example, that is the case in Primorye.
Previously produced products will not have to be removed from the shelves, but stores should indicate on price tags whether they are selling milk or a milk drink, Gennady Onishchenko noted. Within the next 6 months, all dairy products produced by Russian enterprises, according to the technical regulation, must receive new certificates.