KGC of Vitebsk region revealed numerous violations in a large retail chain

November 2, Vitebsk. The State Control Committee of the Vitebsk region has taken measures to prevent violations of the law in one of the major retail chains, BelTA learned from the region's State Control Committee.

The agency, in cooperation with the regional divisions of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade and the State Committee for Standardization, in May-July checked the network of retail outlets of the trading network. The Company has opened 40 catering facilities and 28 shops and shopping centers in MINSK, Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and some regional centers. "Based on the results of the control, violations of the rules for the sale of goods, facts of the sale of products that do not meet national standards for quality and safety, failure to ensure the labeling of goods with control (identification) signs, exceeding the established maximum trade markups, and non-compliance with sanitary standards were revealed. Insufficient work was noted to promote domestic products. For example, in 2020, the share of sales of cereals by the company amounted to 49.8%, pasta - 45.5%, fresh vegetables - 70.9%, alcoholic beverages - 81.4%, beer - 75.5%, soft drinks - 81.8%, which is below the level of at least 85 defined by the national food security doctrine %. In certain (not only off-season) periods, an extremely low share of sales of domestic fruit and vegetable products was noted," the KGC of the region said. For some goods, the amount of foreign products prevailed over domestic ones by 1.5-7 times.

When placing goods on the shelves, no preference was given to domestic products. In each of the 15 inspected facilities, numerous cases of violations of the conditions for the storage of goods, the maintenance of premises, equipment and inventory were revealed. Facts of sale of food and non-food products with expired shelf life were recorded in the trade facilities of Polotsk.

"Price law violations were revealed: cereals, butter, chicken eggs, fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, chicken carcasses were sold in excess of trade markups. Due to non-compliance with the requirements for safety indicators and other characteristics of the products sold, the sale of more than 30 types of goods is prohibited - soy sauces, biscuits, dried fruits, dried fish, children's toys and heaters. Based on the results of inspections, the owner promptly took measures to eliminate violations, including reducing prices for products with excessive markups. The company itself and 21 of its employees were brought to administrative responsibility, disciplinary - 41 people," the State Control Committee of the region added.