Destruction of products may be banned

A bill has been submitted to the State Duma to ban the destruction of food products with an expiring shelf life. They are proposed to be transferred to needy citizens, and the "delay" - to be used as animal feed or sent for processing.

The draft amendments to the federal law "On Production and Consumption Wastes" were introduced by MP Oleg Nilov. The explanatory note cites figures: over 36 thousand tons of so-called “sanctioned products” have been destroyed in RUSSIA in five years, in addition, more than 4 million tons of expired products are thrown away annually in the country.

The law is proposed to be supplemented by Article 13.6. According to it, the destruction, burial, disposal of food products, food materials and products suitable for consumption is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.

An economic entity carrying out trading activities will be entitled to donate products with an expiring shelf life, that is, those with three or less days left before the expiration date.

It is envisaged that the owner of low-quality and (or) expired products ensures their temporary storage and transportation for the purpose of disposal for further use as raw materials for processing or animal feed. The procedure for further processing, use, disposal will be determined by the government.

The tax base for gratuitous transfer is determined as the cost of goods, calculated on the basis of market prices. It is proposed to supplement part 2 of article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (on non-recognition as objects of taxation) with paragraph 22 - on the transfer of food products, food materials and products with an expiring shelf life free of charge. The procedure for the appropriate transfer will have to be established by the government.

Online food sales grew 2.5 times in the first half of the year 

This will encourage retail chains not to dispose of expired products, but before the expiration date to transfer them free of charge to citizens in need of support, the authors of the document note.