Rosselkhoznadzor: veterinary certification of milk has not been introduced in the Russian Federation since March. "electronic veterinary certification in the dairy industry" Mandatory transition to electronic veterinary

The Mercury system is implemented as a web application in which. users interact with the system via the Internet. Thanks to this, all users always have access to up-to-date information.
The main feature of the system is that it is based on a process approach; without entering information at the input, it is impossible to issue a veterinary accompanying document (VSD) for sale or movement in the system and to remove the controlled goods from the system at the end of the product’s life.
The entrance to the "Mercury" system is to enter information about the production batch for domestic products, for imports - the presence of a veterinary certificate issued in the "Mercury" system. Thus, each subsequent VSD is drawn up on the basis of the previous one, thus building a chain along which you can track the full path of movement of goods from the moment of production (import) to the final point (retail outlet, or disposal).
Starting from March 1, 2015, it will be possible to issue veterinary accompanying documents in electronic form, but so far there is no regulatory document that would oblige manufacturers of products controlled by the state veterinary supervision to apply a barcode to the packaging, although they can already do this at will.

- Sergey Vladimirovich, what products fall into the zone of veterinary control and who carries it out?

All products of animal origin fall under veterinary control: fish, meat, milk, honey, cheese, etc. The state veterinary control system consists of Rosselkhoznadzor, veterinary services of the constituent entities of Russia, as well as veterinary services in each power ministry. Rosselkhoznadzor exercises control at the state border and at seaports, and the subject services subordinate to the regional governor already work on the ground. They interact with the Ministry of Agriculture through a complex system of regulations and reporting, and among themselves solely on the basis of goodwill. The work of the veterinary services of the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the FSO, the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs is generally a sealed secret. In total, there are 91 self-sufficient decision-making centers for veterinary control.

- How is veterinary control carried out today?

Unfortunately, control today is fragmented and does not meet modern economic conditions. Much of the blame for this lies with the outdated veterinary certification system. Certification today is a visual inspection of products, verification of documents, organoleptic examination, which allows us to generally confirm: the products are obtained from fish or animals that are safe in veterinary and sanitary terms and are suitable for consumption. Based on the results of the examination, the veterinarian issues a corresponding document - a veterinary certificate. If necessary, product samples are sent for laboratory testing.
The problem is that the subjective approach on the part of veterinary specialists and the lack of a unified system for recording legally significant actions with products have distorted the very essence of veterinary certification - traceability from the place of origin and confirmation of its safety. Today, most often, these pieces of paper are issued as if on an assembly line, based on a set of other documents, and in many places there is no real verification procedure: there is not enough effort, time, or resources for it. But if they want, they can, and vice versa, instead of a conveyor, arrange a thorough inspection of the entire batch and, at each shipment, they will certainly require laboratory tests. Naturally, everything is at the expense of the owner of the cargo. “Selective approach” is how one can characterize the system as a whole.

- Is it true to say that paper veterinary certification has become obsolete?

You see, a number of problems have accumulated with paper certification. Forms are counterfeited, despite the high degree of security; they can, for example, be printed in a local printing house and used

Sergey Gudkov Executive Director of the Fishing Union

General description | What is this? For whom?

Certification in electronic form is carried out using FSIS "Mercury".
Main function of the system "Mercury"– maintaining internal electronic certification of all types of cargo, tracking the route of their movement across the territory of the Russian Federation, increasing biological and food safety. Many years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Office of Epizootics proclaimed a simple principle that is understandable to every trade participant - control of the production chain from “field to counter.” In accordance with this principle, it is necessary to implement solutions at all stages of the supply chain that make it possible to determine the origin, location, route of movement of a product or batch of products. An effective traceability system must be able to trace products down or up the supply chain. To do this, the Mercury system records information about all stages of production: raising animals, slaughtering them, places of storage and processing of the resulting products, and so on up to retail sales. At each stage, a separate certificate is issued - this way a chain of electronic documents is built, from which you can find out everything about the product. Mercury makes the entire process absolutely transparent and consistent. Every stage of its movement is taken into account. An unscrupulous entrepreneur simply will not be able to sell products that do not meet quality and safety standards. And even more so counterfeit or smuggling.

Each subsequent certificate is associated with the previous one (or previous ones, if there were several) and subsequent ones. “Mercury” exchanges information both with “Argus”, that is, it “knows” where this cargo or raw materials for its production were imported from (if the raw materials or products are imported to Russia), and with “Vesta”, that is, it “knows” , for what and with what indicators it (it) was studied. Moreover, he “knows” along the entire chain – from the animal to the finished product. This is the full traceability system.

Basic Concepts

  • VSD- these abbreviations are used to denote a veterinary document - a veterinary certificate (VC) or a veterinary accompanying document (VSD). The following abbreviations can also be used: EVSD, VS, EVS.
  • Production batch of controlled goods- any quantity of a regulated product, except animals, produced within one or several days, to which, in accordance with the requirements (if any), of the legislation of the country where the product was produced, the manufacturer has assigned batch identifiers - batch or batch number, date ( date range) of production, control number (if applicable), shelf life (if applicable), expiration date (if applicable), or any quantity intended for use in one place for one purpose of mammals or aquatic animals intended for human consumption, or intended for breeding for the purpose of obtaining products intended for food for people belonging to the same biological species, which were kept in one livestock enterprise (including private household plots and peasant farms) or in private household plots (peasant farms) located in the same locality, or any number intended for use in one place for one purpose of animals other than mammals, one or more biological species, which were kept in one livestock enterprise (including private household plots and peasant farms) or in private household plots (peasant farms) located in the same locality.* Production VSD- a veterinary document issued for a production batch of regulated goods.
  • Supervised facility (site)- the place where an economic entity carries out its activities. In the general case, a business entity may not be the owner of the site, but may be a tenant, for example. There are 4 types of sites available in the system:
  1. Company;
  2. Market;
  3. SBBJ;
  4. Vessel.
  • Cancellation of veterinary certificate- the procedure for changing the status of a previously issued veterinary certificate, carried out by the person who issued this certificate, or a person authorized to conduct veterinary supervision, or GIS Mercury, in connection with the successful completion of the process for which the certificate was issued
  • Economic entity- this is a person who independently organizes his activities and bears full responsibility for the risk arising from his activities. Within the framework of FSIS "Mercury", an economic entity is a participant in the economy carrying out supervised activities. There are 3 types of business entities available in the system:
  1. Entity;
  2. Individual;
  3. Individual entrepreneur/peasant farm.
  • Transport consignment of controlled goods- any quantity of a controlled product of the same name, belonging to one production batch, moved in one vehicle, to the address of one recipient or a new owner (if the movement is carried out simultaneously with the transfer of ownership), or any quantity of a controlled product of the same name, belonging to one production batch, transferred during one transaction to one owner and at the same time not moved and located in one room (refrigerator) during the transaction, or any number of animals belonging to one production batch, transferred without moving them during one transaction to one owner, or transported to one vehicle or simultaneously transported as part of one herd (herd, flock, etc.) to one address, or any number of animals of the same biological species, raised (kept) to obtain from them products intended for food for people who were kept on one livestock enterprise (including private household plots and peasant farms) or in private household plots (peasant farms) located in the same locality, transferred without moving them during one transaction to one owner, or transported in one vehicle or simultaneously transported as part of one herd (herd, flock) etc.) to one address, or any number of indoor (aquarium, terrarium, etc.) animals belonging to one or more biological species, kept in one place or caught in nature in one area, simultaneously transported in one vehicle to one address, or transferred to one new owner without moving them, or any number of circus or sports or service animals belonging to one or more biological species, kept in one place, simultaneously transported in one vehicle or several vehicles, the following simultaneously along one route, to one address, or transferred to one new owner without moving them.
  • Transport VSD- veterinary certificate issued for a transport batch of regulated goods.
  • Gateway- a set of web services that allows you to send requests from the commodity accounting systems of business entities to the FSIS "Mercury", bypassing the web interface. Same as Vetis.API.

Transition period

Order of the Ministry of Agriculture No. 589 dated December 27, 2016 establishes a transition period for the introduction of electronic certification.

Until January 1, 2018 registration of veterinary accompanying documents for regulated goods is carried out on paper or in electronic form at the request of the owner of these regulated goods. That is, the choice between electronic and paper certification is made by cargo owners.

From January 1, 2018 registration of veterinary accompanying documents is carried out only in electronic form. It is important to note that before January 1, 2018, the execution of veterinary accompanying documents for regulated goods, for which veterinary accompanying documents were not issued before the entry into force of this Federal Law, is not carried out or is carried out in electronic form at the request of the owner of these regulated goods.

Connection procedure | How to connect?

Connection options

To start working with FSIS "Mercury", you need to determine how to interact with the system:

  • using the system web interface;
  • by integrating your accounting system with FSIS Mercury through the Vetis.API integration gateway.

Web interface

Work via web interface means that no additional software is installed on the workstation to get started. All you need is any modern web browser. This is the cheapest (no need to purchase anything) and fastest (2 weeks to learn) way to get started with e-certification.

However, the web interface has a number of limitations, since it requires the operator to enter information to issue a certificate. FSIS "Mercury" has built-in various mechanisms for automating the work of specialists who carry out registration of VSD, based on the use of data import, forms for filling out documents, etc. As a result, labor costs are reduced significantly compared to preparing VSD on paper.

The results of our ongoing monitoring of VSD registration show that now the most active users, using the web interface, issue an average of 400 to 2400 electronic VSD per day. This amount is quite suitable for a small or medium-sized manufacturing enterprise or warehouse, but does not correspond to the certification volumes for a large enterprise. In this case, it is advisable to use the mechanisms provided by the Vetis.API integration gateway.

Integration gateway Vetis.API

Working through an integration gateway means that to get started you need to develop or purchase a client integration module yourself. Our practice shows that the amount of work to develop and implement an integration solution by the company’s own specialists can be from 3 to 4 months with the involvement of 1-2 specialists and does not require significant financial investments. In order to effectively implement electronic veterinary certification, Rosselkhoznadzor has concluded agreements on interaction with leading IT companies 1C, StartUp-Factory (mobile solutions), Corus Consulting - an authorized partner of SAP. Upon completion of the integration project, client companies of 1C and SAP systems will receive their ready-made solutions with an integrated module for interaction with FGIS “Mercury”. For example, turnover participants calculated that for an average processing enterprise with 17 types of products in its assortment, 2210 VSD must be issued daily. Now, for example, “Ravis-Poultry Farm Sosnovskaya”, using “Vetis.API”, issues an average of 20 thousand electronic VSDs daily using 1 veterinarian per shift.

Gaining access to FSIS Mercury

According to Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation dated December 27, 2016 No. 589, registration in the Mercury system is carried out as follows:

  • Individual entrepreneur has the right to send an application on paper by mail to the address of Rosselkhoznadzor or one of its Territorial Departments or in electronic form to the email address of Rosselkhoznadzor: [email protected], signed by an individual entrepreneur a simple electronic digital signature. Please note that statements without digital signature will not be considered.
  • Organization has the right to send an application in writing on the organization’s letterhead signed by its head (deputy head) to Rosselkhoznadzor or one of its Territorial Departments, or in the form of an electronic document certified enhanced qualified electronic signature organization or its head (deputy head), sent by email [email protected]. Please note that statements without UEDS are not considered.

Connection application template

  • application template for access for individual entrepreneurs (IP).
  • application template for providing access for legal entities (LEs)

Connection to Vetis.API

In the case of developing an integration module, it is necessary to gain access to Vetis. API.

  1. Access to Vetis.API is provided in 2 stages: the first stage is submission of an application for access to the test version (Example of an application for connection to the test version of Vetis.API) Vetis.API for development and debugging, the second stage is submission of an application for access to productive version of Vetis.API.
  2. Access to the test version of Vetis.API for the development and debugging of client modules is provided upon requests from business entities and government authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the field of veterinary medicine.
  3. The application is completed on the organization's letterhead with the signature of the head (or his authorized person) and the seal of the organization and is submitted to the Federal State Budgetary Institution "ARRIAH" by e-mail to the following address: [email protected].
  4. The application must contain the following information:
    1. Name and details (Legal address; INN; OGRN) of the business entity or organization responsible for generating requests to Vetis.API.
    2. Contact person (or contact persons) for technical and organizational issues (full name, place of work, email address, telephone).
    3. The name of the connected software system (platform) that makes requests.
    4. List of business entities served by the software system (name of organization, legal address, INN, OGRN). Filled out if not one enterprise, but several operates through the information system (for example, a dairy plant and a meat processing plant can be connected through the holding system). Consent of the listed business entities to the processing of their data in VetIS.
    1. Access details for the test version of Vetis.API (access details are sent to the personal email address of the contact person).
    2. Access details to the web interface of the test version of the gateway of the Mercury.GVE, Argus.VU subsystems.
    3. Ability to use the test version of Vetis.API in accordance with the assigned role and the specified “Service Area”.
  6. Upon completion of development and testing of the client module, the organization or institution independently determines its readiness to move to the productive version of Vetis.API. Readiness is determined taking into account the following criteria:
    1. Operations for issuing VSD and other operations implemented from the information system of an organization or institution do not disrupt internal business processes and do not lead to delays in production or logistics operations.
    2. All operations necessary for an organization or institution have been tested and approved to a sufficient extent: registration of VSD from the information system was carried out over a period of at least 10 working days in the real production process.
    3. During the testing period in a real production process, the number of requests with errors with the MERC code should not exceed 10% of the total number of requests of this type per day. There are no errors with the APL and APLM code during the testing period.
  7. Access to the production version is provided only after the client has completed development and debugging in the test version of the gateway and only if the third-party information system and the gateway developed for its integration with FSIS Mercury meet the following requirements:
    1. When contacting, a third-party information system must be able to transmit data about the unique identifier of the client solution and the developer company, data about the location of the object that this client solution serves, including its unique identification number in the FSIS Cerberus register, identification data of the user on whose behalf in the FSIS Mercury carries out actions, information about which is provided from the client solution to FSIS Mercury.
    2. The third-party information system must ensure that it is not technically possible to make changes to the certificate, the registration of which has been completed, if such a certificate is also stored on remote workstations of the third-party information system.
  8. If there is reasonable confidence in the readiness to use the productive version of Vetis.API (Example of an application for connection to the productive version of Vetis.API), the organization or institution informs about this by sending an application for access to the productive version of Vetis.API containing the information specified in paragraph 4.
  9. Registration is carried out by officials of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "ARRIAH" within no more than 5 working days after receiving the application.
  10. After registration, an organization or institution is provided with:
    1. Access details for the productive version of Vetis.API (access details are sent to the specified email address of the contact person).
    2. Ability to use the productive version of Vetis.API in accordance with the assigned role and the specified “Service Area”.
    3. Access to the test version of Vetis.API is maintained.
  11. Registration may be canceled in the following cases.
    1. If the total number of any errors when performing business operations in the productive version of Vetis.API exceeded 10% of the total number of requests of this type per day. In this case, a warning is issued to the organization or institution responsible for processing requests to the gateway. If errors are not eliminated within 5 working days, the software system is disconnected from the productive version of Vetis.API for a period of at least 1 month until errors are eliminated. During this period, only the test version of Vetis.API is available to the institution or organization.
  12. To restore access to the productive version of Vetis.API, you must submit the appropriate request.

Progress in implementing electronic certification

1. About the situation with the implementation of electronic veterinary certification at the end of May 2017: http://www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/news/21437.html
2. About the situation with the implementation of electronic veterinary certification at the end of April 2017: http://www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/news/21048.html
3. About the situation with the implementation of electronic veterinary certification at the end of March 2017: http://www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/news/20723.html
4. About the situation with the implementation of electronic veterinary certification at the end of February 2017: http://www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/news/20722.html
5. About the situation with the implementation of electronic veterinary certification at the end of January 2017: http://www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/news/20067.html

Knowledge Base | Useful materials

Regulations

Current information on regulations in the field of electronic certification can be found on the official website of Rosselkhoznadzor in the section "Electronic veterinary certification".

Regulatory acts governing the preparation of veterinary accompanying documents.

No. Type of legal acts Registration number Acceptance date Name Status
1 the federal law 243 07/13/2015 On amendments to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Veterinary Medicine" and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation Entered into force
2 Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia 589 December 27, 2016 On approval of the Veterinary Rules for the organization of work on the preparation of veterinary accompanying documents, the Procedure for the preparation of veterinary accompanying documents in electronic form and the Procedure for the preparation of veterinary accompanying documents on paper. Entered into force
3 Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia 22 01/22/2016 On approval of the rules for monitoring veterinary safety of the territory of the Russian Federation" Entered into force
4 Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia 648 12/18/2015 On approval of the list of regulated goods subject to accompanying veterinary documents Entered into force
5 Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia 647 12/18/2015 On approval of the list of regulated goods for which certified specialists who are not authorized persons of bodies and institutions included in the system of the state veterinary service of the Russian Federation can prepare veterinary accompanying documents Entered into force
6 Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia 646 12/18/2015 On approval of the list of products of animal origin, for which authorized persons of organizations that are producers of regulated goods and (or) participants in the circulation of regulated goods, and individual entrepreneurs who are producers of regulated goods and (or) participants in the circulation of regulated goods, can draw up veterinary accompanying documents Entered into force
7 Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia 635 12/14/2015 On approval of veterinary rules for regionalization of the territory of the Russian Federation Entered into force
8 Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia 634 12/14/2015 On the procedure for ordering laboratory tests of regulated goods (including catches of aquatic biological resources and products made from them) for the purpose of preparing veterinary accompanying documents Entered into force
9 1140 07.11.2016 On approval of the Procedure for the creation, development and operation of the Federal State Information System in the field of veterinary medicine Entered into force
10 Decree of the Government of Russia 1145 09.11.2016 On approval of the Rules for the certification of specialists in the field of veterinary medicine Entered into force
11 Draft Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia (project) - On approval of the Procedure for conducting a qualification examination of specialists in the field of veterinary medicine and the application form for certification of specialists in the field of veterinary medicine Designed by
12 Solution - 01/20/2017 Decision on establishing the status of regions of the Russian Federation regarding contagious animal diseases and conditions for the movement of goods under the control of state veterinary supervision Came into force

User instructions

Instructions for working in the Mercury system are collected in the help system https://youtu.be/7xPHayOx8vQ)

Technical documentation for Vetis.API

Instructions for implementing electronic veterinary certification through the Vetis.API integration gateway are posted in the Rosselkhoznadzor Help System:

Documentation includes:

  • description of the procedure for providing access to pilot (test) and production servers
  • general description of the technologies used and interaction schemes
  • description of data transfer formats (WSDL, XSD)
  • system availability monitoring

Frequently asked questions and answers

Certain categories of products, according to the law, must undergo mandatory veterinary certification. Based on its results, a paper certificate is issued indicating that the quality of goods meets the established standards and requirements. Meanwhile, the issue of transition to electronic veterinary certification. Let us next consider the pros and cons of the new system.

General information

Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance has long been planning to replace paper certification with electronic certification. A special Internet application has been developed for this purpose. It is called GIS "Mercury".

The application can be opened directly in the browser and specified the necessary information about the product in order to subsequently receive a certificate.

Together with the GIS "Mercury", other auxiliary systems "Vesta", "Argus", "Cerberus" will be launched. The latter will be used to track and record legally significant transactions. The Vesta system is designed for recording the results of laboratory tests. The Argus application is already used in practice to obtain permits for the import of products.

The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance assumes that the new procedure will significantly reduce bureaucracy and speed up the issuance of documentation. In addition, interested parties do not have to carry paper certificates with them; they just need to know the permit number. Using it, authorized bodies will be able to verify the type of product and origin.

Are changes needed?

Many manufacturers are interested in why the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance needed to change the rules. Actually, this question is quite logical, since there are many gaps in the current domestic legislation.

In countries it is carried out to ensure the safety of the population. Laboratory tests are carried out to identify and prevent dangerous diseases. The WTO believes that the certificate is necessary solely for protection against infections.

Russian legislation does not indicate anywhere why a certificate is needed. There is also no regulation establishing a list of unreliable suppliers or regions in which there is a high probability of epidemics occurring in farm animals.

Meanwhile, in Russia there are GOSTs, sanitary and epidemiological rules and requirements, and there is also a Law regulating the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population. Accordingly, it is wrong to say that veterinary certification (electronic or paper) does not make sense.

Web application specifics

It is expected to work as follows. The user must log in to receive the certificate. This action involves entering information about the batch of goods. If the product is manufactured in the Russian Federation, this data is sufficient. If the product is foreign-made, you must additionally have a certificate issued in the country of origin of the product.

The application not only collects data, but also tracks it. This is necessary so that the new certificate is issued only to confirm the previously entered information. Thus, it is problematic to deceive the system.

If an error is detected in the issuance of a certificate, the document can be promptly revoked.

Subsystems

They are especially important for dairy producers. Electronic veterinary certification is provided for imported goods and products transported across the territory of Russia. In the first case, the “Temporary Storage Warehouse” subsystem is used, in the second case, the “State Veterinary Expertise” subsystem is used.

Meanwhile, the GIS is not yet fully formed. In particular, it lacks the modules necessary for entering data on raw materials and products.

During trial implementation the developers were unable to establish the possibility of integrating the application into the automated systems of dairies. At the same time, as representatives of the National Union of Manufacturers noted, there is an insufficient level of automation in the industry.

Regulatory support

Discussions about the feasibility of introducing, the rules of organization electronic veterinary certification were very lively. In 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture finally issued an order. He approved the procedure for preparing electronic documentation (Order 281).

Electronic veterinary certification must be carried out according to the rules provided for in this order. Meanwhile, manufacturers and experts note that the content of the adopted act has significant differences from the draft that was discussed with the business community. It must be said that during these discussions, manufacturers put forward many rational proposals that could prevent the emergence of controversial issues.

Responsibility of processors

Until now, documents in the dairy industry were issued exclusively for raw materials. It is expected that it will become mandatory for processors as well.

The document, in particular, will be needed for milk (including powdered milk), cottage cheese, cheese, and butter. In such a situation, there is a risk of duplication of functions of two departments - Rosselkhoznadzor and Rospotrebnadzor.

Problems

If speak about pros and cons of electronic veterinary certification, then producers and processors still see only shortcomings. But if manufacturers are already familiar with the procedure for obtaining a document, and it will not be difficult for them to switch to an electronic format of interaction with authorities, then processors will have many problems.

The difficulties are primarily due to the fact that the developers electronic veterinary certification did not take into account a number of features of the activities of these entities.

To receive the document, processors need to indicate the source of raw materials for each batch. Many of them accept raw materials from several manufacturers. Often, the number of suppliers reaches up to 100. Many processors, fulfilling orders from regional administrations, collect raw materials from small farmers. This helps support the agricultural industry.

It is, of course, unprofitable to transport a separate tank for each supplier. Accordingly, at the stage of collecting raw materials, it is mixed. It is simply impossible to indicate the source of the result.

Factories have quite a lot of batches of products. Even with a small number of raw material suppliers, the company will have to collect an impressive number of certificates for each batch.

In addition, to receive the document, the processor must indicate the place of sale of the product. Subjects do not always have such information.

Price

Formally, there is no charge for registration. In practice, processing enterprises will have to seek help from competent specialists to take care of this entire procedure.

As many business entities believe, production costs may increase by at least 1-1.5%. For example, a calculation was made for an enterprise whose processing volume is 200 tons/day. The plant will have to spend about 10 million rubles per year. for implementation These costs will negatively affect the cost of production - it will increase by 5%.

When will the system start working?

It is quite possible that never. Officials have delayed implementation of the system until 2018. However, this does not mean that recyclers will have to complete paperwork. According to Alexander Tkachev (head of the Ministry of Agriculture), these entities may be exempt from the obligation to obtain a certificate.

Additional nuances

Despite the fact that the introduction of electronic certification has been postponed, regional authorities are already actively preparing for this procedure.

From 01.01. In 2018, an expanded list of products for which a document must be issued will be in effect. The list includes:

  • Ready-made dairy products.
  • Canned and prepared products from fish, meat by-products and meat.
  • Pasta with fish/meat filling.
  • Ready-made soups, broths and other products containing raw materials of animal origin.

Electronic certification will allow you to track the movement of products from the point of collection and production to delivery to the final consumer. At the same time, it is possible to search for and remove low-quality and dangerous goods from circulation.

It is worth saying that the accompanying veterinary documentation has the right to be drawn up not only by employees of the state veterinary service, but also by veterinary specialists certified in the prescribed manner, representatives of enterprises and individual entrepreneurs.

An electronic certificate must be issued not only to processing enterprises or wholesale and retail bases, but also to retail stores, public catering chains (canteens, cafes, etc.), kindergartens, schools, hospitals. The document must be canceled by an authorized person.

Today, entrepreneurs are active in resolving issues of registration in the Mercury GIS. Thus, in the Kirov region, about 400 legal entities and individual entrepreneurs have already applied to gain access. However, as the state inspector of the veterinary inspection department notes, this figure corresponds to only 10% of the total number of registered entities conducting business activities in the production and sale of livestock products.

Conclusion

To avoid problems with regulatory organizations, regional authorities strongly recommend that entrepreneurs gain access to GIS in the coming months. In some regions, the implementation of programs for the transition to electronic certification will begin in October of this year. By the end of the year, it is planned to ban the acceptance and movement of products without an electronic certificate in a number of regions.

The management of enterprises involved in the circulation of agricultural products should take comprehensive measures to introduce electronic certification. The list of activities, among other things, includes training employees to work in GIS, equipping workplaces with the necessary technical means (a computer with Internet access). The accounting system must be integrated with GIS through a special universal gateway.

On Tuesday, the State Duma is preparing to adopt in the third reading a bill on postponing the introduction of mandatory electronic veterinary certification (EVC) to July 1. Rosselkhoznadzor insisted on launching this system from January 1 next year.

Electronic certification could, on the one hand, relieve manufacturers from filling out a lot of paper documents, and on the other hand, bring complete transparency to production and track the further movement of products. Despite the fact that the counter that counts down the time remaining until the transition to EMU on the department’s website today shows 12 days, so far only veterinary services in 20 regions of the country are almost completely ready to switch to the digital format. Rosselkhoznadzor classifies another 14 regions as outsiders, and places the rest in the middle of the list.

At the same time, the meat and fish industries can switch to new technologies even tomorrow, while problems remain in the production of milk and dairy products.

20 regions of the country are currently ready to switch to electronic veterinary certification of products

According to the amendments that passed the second reading, it will be possible to draw up veterinary documents on paper after July 1, 2018, but only in some cases. For example, if a catastrophe, natural disaster, etc. occurred in the region, which would make it impossible to use the federal state information system "Mercury". Or if in the area where the enterprise is located there is no Internet access at all. In addition, there are restrictions on information that contains state or official secrets.

“Most likely, we will have to make some adjustments to our plans, but during the time that we are trying to implement the new system, we have already gotten used to it,” said Rosselkhoznadzor official representative Yulia Melano in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

The introduced Mercury system has many advantages, but there are also difficulties in its implementation, Marina Petrova, general director of Petrova Five Consulting, explained to RG. They are due to the fact that medium and small enterprises do not yet have the necessary competence or financial and human resources to fully implement automation. There is also a general misunderstanding of how to work with the new system.

In her opinion, postponing the introduction of EMU to July 1, 2018 and making it informational rather than permissive would be the most reasonable decision. At the same time, she agrees that the idea itself is undoubtedly progressive. It will increase transparency in the market and introduce traceability of milk “from field to counter.” In addition, it will show which enterprises use powdered milk and in what quantities, and will clarify how the raw material flows between regions. And it will be clear exactly how much milk is processed from private farms.

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Electronic veterinary certification for food producers becomes mandatory in the Russian Federation from July 1, 2018. As the press service of Rosselkhoznadzor reported to TASS, according to the department's calculations, the introduction of the specially created Mercury system will prevent the illegal import of products into the country worth 1.4 trillion rubles per year.

On June 28, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation presented a list of products that must be accompanied by veterinary accompanying documents, and also clarified exceptions from this list. The list includes products of animal origin (including sausages) and fish in all types, as well as crustaceans, eggs, grains, beans, vegetable fats and oils.

Certificates must accompany all dairy products, except those made from pasteurized milk, manufactured industrially and packaged in consumer containers. In addition, the list does not include products containing less than half of animal products, milk or fish products, provided that such products have been thermally processed entirely until the natural properties of the raw product are completely changed.

The corresponding departmental order has not yet been adopted.

The Mercury program is an information system into which information about livestock products produced, transported and sold in Russia is entered. Until July 1, such products were accompanied by documents printed on paper forms, the issuance of which was carried out by veterinarians of the subject veterinary departments on a paid basis. “In addition to the fact that the traditional system of issuing certificates on paper has become obsolete, it is also a threat to the country’s reputation as a manufacturer and exporter of safe and high-quality products, since unscrupulous businesses have learned to falsify such documents,” the Rosselkhoznadzor representative emphasized.

From manufacturer to shelf

As explained in Rosselkhoznadzor, the main goals of introducing the system are to ensure traceability of production, movement and sale of products.

“This means that along the entire chain “from field to counter” in Mercury, electronic certificates will be generated, accompanied by which products will be moved and sold. And all participants in the process - manufacturers, logisticians, retailers and regulatory authorities - will be able to have access to this information and track everything that happens to the products,” Rosselkhoznadzor said. In addition, the purpose of introducing the system is to protect consumers from low-quality and unsafe products.

It is planned that the system will make the work of supervisory authorities transparent and effective in the fight against fraud. “Respectable business will develop in conditions of truly fair competition, since Mercury will help push fraudsters and smugglers out of the market and protect brands from counterfeiting,” Rosselkhoznadzor is confident. Market participants and government agencies will also be able to use Mercury as a single database that allows them to quickly and efficiently search and analyze information.

Rosselkhoznadzor reported on work to create a unified information environment between all EAEU countries. It is expected that the general system of electronic veterinary certification will significantly reduce the flow of illegally imported goods of animal origin, as it quickly monitors the movement of products across the territory of all member states of the EAEU. Rosselkhoznadzor also continues to work on establishing electronic veterinary certification with other countries - trading partners of Russia, including introducing electronic veterinary certification with New Zealand, the Netherlands, Chile and the European Union.

Business opinion

Most of the companies surveyed by TASS are ready to implement an electronic veterinary certification system, but some suppliers have not yet managed to switch to it.

“Companies that are members of the Association of Retail Trade Companies (AKORT) are quite ready for EMU. At the same time, from 20 to 30% of suppliers are still at risk,” an AKORT representative told TASS.

Retailer representatives also confirmed this information. “We are ready to launch the system in test mode. Some suppliers have not yet switched to working at Mercury. Together with them, we are taking measures to speed up their preparation,” noted a representative of X5 Retail Group.

According to a Magnit representative, the company began using the Mercury system in test mode back in 2017. “Currently, all retail outlets of the retail network have been registered with Rosselkhoznadzor, the staff is trained and works in the Mercury system,” the company assured. Most of the company’s partners are also ready to work in Mercury, so from July 1, 2018, Magnit expects the arrival of shipped products only accompanied by electronic veterinary certificates.

As Maria Kurnosova, director of corporate communications at Auchan Retail Russia, told TASS, the company has created its own integration IT application “Vetis.API”, which will allow accounting information systems to automatically transmit and receive the necessary data for working with veterinary documents, as well as requires minimal participation from users. For now, the integration gateway is fully operational in all divisions of Auchan Retail Russia. Speaking about the readiness of suppliers, Kurnosova noted that about 50% of the company’s suppliers of controlled veterinary products are ready to work in Mercury, but only 30% of incoming electronic veterinary accompanying documents are correct.

At the same time, the general director of the meat products manufacturer Dymov, Alexander Kachev, told TASS that the company sees risks at the stage of implementing the system.

“We have done a lot of work and made every effort to prepare for the launch. At the same time, we see serious risks of failures at the stage of launching the system. Not all partners are ready. Not all processes have clear explanations. The system itself requires improvements and additional testing,” said He.

Also, according to Ilya Bereznyuk, managing partner of Agro and Food Communications, there is the possibility of a prolonged freezing of the gateway, which can lead to stoppages and delays in the shipment of products. The expert also recalled that not all localities in Russia still have accessible Internet.

“But, as regional veterinary services promise, such “internet-free” zones will use paper accompanying documents in the old fashioned way. Another question is how many such retail outlets, farms, small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the country will end up,” he continues, adding that if the system works without freezes, then the results of its operation will only be positive for the end user.

Not only Rosselkhoznadzor, but also other departments, for example Rosrybolovstvo, intend to monitor the functioning of the Mercury system.

“Now we are creating a working group together with fishermen and Rosselkhoznadzor, which will monitor and solve all the problems that arise during the transition process... Such a working group will look once a week at what difficulties arise,” said the head of Rosrybolovstvo Ilya on June 29 Shestakov at a meeting in the Federation Council. In his opinion, such difficulties will arise because the system being implemented is not optimal and needs to be improved.