The Russian Duma passes a new tobacco tax label bill: planned to take effect on March 1st

In order to improve regulatory efficiency, Russia will digitize tobacco product labels, which will take effect on March 1, 2024.
According to media reports by Vedomosti on January 24th, the Russian State Duma has passed a bill proposed by the Russian government aimed at shifting stamp duty labels on tobacco and nicotine containing products towards digital labeling. The bill has been made public in the electronic database of the Russian State Duma.
The new bill requires new labeling for tobacco and nicotine containing products, and is scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2024. After taking effect, traditional physical stamp duty labels will be replaced by barcode digital labels that have already been used in fields such as pharmaceuticals and dairy products.
In addition, the bill also introduces the term "accounting control specific labels" to identify identification tools printed on tobacco and nicotine containing product packaging. According to the bill, accounting control labels will be printed on tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, atomizer liquids, and packaging of heated tobacco systems.
This change aims to improve the regulatory efficiency of Russia's taxation of tobacco products imported from Eurasian Economic Community countries. In addition, the bill will ensure the correct determination of the tax basis for tobacco and nicotine products.
It is worth noting that on December 13, 2023, the Russian government subcommittee approved the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to impose a 5% tariff on the import of electronic cigarettes. On October 17, 2023, the Russian government lifted the ban on inspections of e-cigarette and hookah shops, which was originally scheduled to be effective until 2025.
These changes aim to improve the regulatory and taxation efficiency of tobacco and nicotine products to adapt to the labeling methods of the digital age.