Retail chains may oblige to sell farm products

Retail chains may be required to sell farm products from local producers, according to a new bill from the Federation Council. Thus, the government will ensure the sale of a certain percentage of the products of regional producers, the explanatory note to the bill says.

Regional producers often have a problem with putting their goods on sale in large retail chains, Andrey Kutepov, the author of the bill, explained. Prior to the spread of retail chains in the regions, a local producer could sell products in local stores, but retail chains have no obligation to place a share of the local product in their stores. Regional producers are essentially being squeezed out of the market, while, notes Andrey Kutepov, local products are often no worse than those sold in retail chains.

This trend harms the economy of the regions, the expert believes. Therefore, he proposed a new bill that would oblige retail chains to provide regional producers with a guaranteed percentage of sales. This will help regional producers, while, the expert notes, it should not harm the interests of retail chains, because the bill does not impose any restrictions, but has a multiplicative effect.