FMCG Committee Report
Chingiz Kaskeyev
FMCG Committee Chairperson
EUROBAK FMCG Committee was created as a response
to challenges facing companies who produce and sell
consumer goods. The executive team is composed of
representatives from local producers, importers as
well as legal consultants, covering all aspects of FMCG
sector.
The following priorities for 2016 have been identified
by the executive team based on their experience and
feedback from EUROBAK member companies.
Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) or
‘packaging recycle fee’. This non-tax payment will be
paid by all companies, producing, importing and selling
consumer goods and electronics. Since this initiative
will directly affect companies’ finances, it has been
our focus throughout the year. The initial proposal of
the government and the ‘EPR Operator’ LTD was not
acceptable: KPIs were set as 100%, prices were set up
with no realistic grounds, there was no transparency
over Operator’s finances, the companies would not
get access to decision-making processes or even
monitoring its activities, etc. Our main position points
regarding EPR were 1) KPIs and recycling prices should
be based on research and current recycling capabilities
and costs; 2) there should be a special committee
inside the Operator, where all parties concerned would
review the Operator’s actions; 3) there should be a
governing body of the Operator, which would execute
public control. We submitted the relevant position paper
to the PM Office and the Ministry of Energy, with the
issue raised by EUROBAK at the meeting with the Prime
Minister. As a result the Ministry and the EPR Operator
have accepted all these positions: 1) research is being
conducted; 2) a special committee has been created (the
EUROBAK FMCG Committee Chairman is a member); 3)
a Supervisory Board, consisting of well-known public
figures has been introduced. We will indeed continue
working on this issue, embracing the idea of extending
our responsibility to ecology and recycling, making
the process transparent, fair, and minimizing negative
effect on business.
Other priorities include:
• IP rights: we will hold an open committee meeting
where we will update on the recent changes regarding
IP legislation.
• Technical Regulation on Chemical Products: we
continue to monitor closely the debates over of EAEU
technical regulations ‘On safety of chemical products’
and ‘On safety of detergents and household products’
to make them compliant with OECD recommendations
and EU practice.
• Advertising of foods high in salt/sugar: we plan
to proactively tackle potential advertising restrictions,
introducing a voluntary Marketing Code of Conduct in
this sphere.
• New government stakeholders: we plan to engage
with newly created government agencies that have a
direct influence on FMCG sector, such as the Committee
on Public Health and KazakhExport.
• Parallel import: this issue is included in the agenda of
EUROBAK’s meeting with the Prime Minister.
• Trade law: we plan to closely monitor and inform
EUROBAK member companies and mediate with
necessity in debates over changing and amending trade
legislation initiated and run by the Ministry of Economy.