The Ministry of Industry and Trade added IKEA products, toys and cosmetics to the list for parallel imports
In Russia, the list of goods for parallel imports has been expanded. It included products from brands such as IKEA, Lancome, Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent and others.
IKEA goods, toys from American Hasbro and Mattel, as well as products from many other foreign companies that have left the domestic market, will be imported into the country through parallel imports, as the Ministry of Industry and Trade has expanded the list of goods allowed for deliveries to the Russian Federation under this scheme. In the future, the list may be increased: the department plans to include not only individual brands, but also their copyright holders. This information was shared with Izvestia in the ministry. This approach should lead to an increase in the assortment in the stores of the Russian Federation, however, according to experts, it is necessary to work out in detail the mechanism for excluding from the list of those suppliers who wish to return to the Russian market.
New additions
In addition to IKEA, Hasbro and Mattel goods, the expanded list of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for import into the country for parallel imports includes clothing manufacturers, cosmetics and perfume brands, including Lancome, Giorgio Armani and Yves Saint Laurent.
As specified in the department, the corresponding list was not only supplemented by brands that left the Russian Federation, a number of brands that resumed deliveries of their products to the country were also excluded from it.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade indicated that the list included manufacturers of motor oils (Shell Helix, Rimula) and home appliances (Zanussi, Wahl), cosmetics and perfume brands (Kerastase, Yves Saint Laurent), companies producing spare parts for agricultural machinery and marine equipment (Caterpillar , Bauer Kompressoren), toy and children’s product brands including Hasbro, Logitech, Nintendo.
At the same time, the ministry noted that the promotion of imports is aimed at closing those niches in which domestic producers need more time to meet the needs of enterprises and consumers.
According to the interlocutor of Izvestia in one of the online stores, Tommy Hilfiger brand clothes will go on sale faster than others. According to him, this will happen as soon as the order comes into force.
The appearance in the Russian Federation of other clothing and perfume brands added to the list is expected approximately in the middle of summer. According to the source of the publication, purchases are already being prepared for them. As for appliances, toys and IKEA products, they will be on sale in late May – early June, he predicted.
According to the President of the Russian Association of Retail Market Experts Andrey Karpov, the timing of the appearance on sale of products popular among Russian brands depends on suppliers – on the speed of restoring supply chains, resolving issues with customs clearance, concluding contracts with retail chains.
Updated Approach
In addition to supplementing the list of goods for parallel imports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to update the approach to the formation of this list. The department indicated that they were carrying out a point adjustment of the mechanism, preparing the transition from being included in the list of brands to including copyright holders in it. This will serve to simplify the administration of the procedure.
According to market participants, at present the list is as follows: the Ministry of Industry and Trade determines a group of goods, and then specific brands that are allowed to be imported under parallel imports, or, on the contrary, must be excluded from it. In the case of the introduction of a new approach, instead of specific brands, the document will include companies that own several brands at once.
As explained in the Antimonopoly Service (FAS), thanks to the proposed changes, it will be possible to remove the risks of delaying the import procedure for parallel importers. At the moment, the final version of the changes is undergoing interdepartmental coordination.
The head of TelecomDaily, Denis Kuskov, considered the new approach to be logical, since the manufacturer can produce products under several brands, the official import of which into Russia has been stopped. In his opinion, indicating the vendor instead of each specific brand will simplify the work of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, customs and the importers themselves, since there will be no confusion about which goods of a particular company are allowed to import and which are not.
In addition, the expert allowed a significant expansion of the range of products that will go to Russian stores. Also, according to him, if the manufacturer introduces a new brand in the future, its deliveries to Russia will not require additional bureaucratic procedures.
As the source of Izvestia notes, there are quite a lot of companies that own several trademarks. A well-known example is the Spanish Inditex, which manages the brands Zara Home, Bershka, Pull & Bear and others. In the electronics market, an example is the Chinese ZTE, which produces smartphones under the brand name of the same name, as well as under the Nubia brand.
However, according to Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, certain difficulties may arise in the transition to a new approach to forming a list. In theory, a situation may arise in which the company will start official deliveries of goods of one of its brands to the Russian Federation, in which case the parallel import of its other brands will be prohibited. In this regard, the specialist considers it necessary to indicate in the list not only the right holders, but also their goods, which should be delivered to the country. However, according to Murtazin, this moment is likely to be taken into account when drawing up new rules for the formation of the list.