On the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic, relations in the field of ensuring the quality of food products and their safety for human health are regulated by the Law of the DPR “On the safety and quality of food products” No. 120-INS of 08.04.2016.
This Law defines notions such as low-quality food products and incorrectly labeled products:
- low-quality food products are food products, the quality indicators and consumer properties of which do not correspond to those specified in the declaration of conformity, regulatory documents or regulatory legal acts, as well as food products, the quality of which cannot satisfy the consumer’s needs in the volume that was declared;
- incorrectly labeled products are food products and food raw materials, in respect of which the requirements on labeling established by the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic have been violated.
According to Article 3 of the Law, food products, materials and products that do not have established expiration dates (for food products, materials and products for which the establishment of expiration dates is mandatory) or the expiration date of which has expired, and which have not have markings that contain the information required by law or regulations, or for which there is no such information cannot be in circulation.
Such food products, materials and products are recognized as low-quality and dangerous, cannot be sold and must be disposed of or destroyed in accordance with the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
On the basis of Article 23 of the Law, on labels or tags or leaflets of packaged food products, in addition to the information, the composition of which is determined by the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic, taking into account the types of food products, there must be indicated the information in the state language of the Donetsk People’s Republic and is available for perception by the consumer form that indicating:
1) the general name of the food product;
2) the nominal amount of the food product in the established units of measurement (mass, volume, etc.);
3) the composition of the food product, if it is made of several components, indicating the list of names used in the manufacture of other food products, food additives;
4) calorie content and nutritional value, with the indicating of the amount of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in established units of measurement per 100 grams of the food product;
5) deadline for sale and (or) date of manufacture and expiration date;
6) batch number;
7) conditions of storage and use, if the food product requires certain conditions of storage and use to ensure its safety and quality;
8) designation of a regulatory document for domestic food products;
9) the name, full address and telephone number of the manufacturer, the address of the production facilities (object);
10) conditions of use (if any);
11) the presence in a food product of components from genetically modified raw materials (in cases where such components are provided for by regulatory documents and (or) regulatory legal acts for this food product);
12) warnings regarding the use of food by certain categories (groups) of the population (children, pregnant women, elderly people, athletes, patients, and others);
13) other information provided for by the regulatory documents in force in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the effect of which applies to a certain food product.
Thus, when purchasing food products, it is necessary to pay attention to the labeling of the product; in case of incorrect labeling, this product is of poor quality.
In addition, we draw the attention of residents of the Republic to the fact that in accordance with the Law of the Donetsk People’s Republic “On Protection of Consumer Rights”, consumer protection is carried out by the republican executive body, which ensures the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of consumer protection, a specially authorized body in the field of the protection of consumer rights and its territorial bodies, local state administrations, bodies exercising state sanitary and epidemiological supervision, other state bodies, local self-government bodies in accordance with the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as courts.
