"Electronic sign" against counterfeiting. Why milk and shoes are marked in Belarus

In the modern world, competition between manufacturers is huge. And this is not a problem with technology, as long as this competition is fair. However, according to the assumption, many unscrupulous companies, instead of promoting their product, prefer to pass off already wonderful goods as their own. We tell you how to protect labels from counterfeiting, goods - from counterfeiting.

What problems do enterprises face when their goods are counterfeited.

Belarusian goods are often counterfeited, mainly in RUSSIA, because the brand "Made in Belarus" is not an empty phrase there. Entire stores with "Belarusian products" use the services of Russians, who often do not even suspect that they are buying a non-original product.

"The most exquisite brands that we have are counterfeited, for example, MINSK Cold Storage Plant No. 1, Turov Dairy Plant , Savushkin Product, Santa Bremor." When we started to look into it, I realized that it was a crude fake, including the unified control mark itself with a low level of printing quality. We contacted the company, and it confirmed that it was not theirs," said

Alexey Smirnov , Deputy DIRECTOR and HEAD of the Information Technology Department of RUP Belblankavyd . Because of them, the company has problems with restrictions. First, it is damage to the brand's reputation. "We all know very well that positive reviews are never written. We bought it, we are happy with the product, we are happy and everything is fine with us. As soon as our washing machine breaks down, we immediately write that everything is bad. Accordingly, there are always more reviews than positive ones. These statistics greatly affect the brand, - Alexey Smirnov noted. - Marking protects manufacturers from counterfeits or defects. If it suddenly turns out that the same batch of products is all equally limited, then it is up to the manufacturer, the manufacturer, to figure out what change was made, to figure out the problem, and perhaps remove that batch so that it is not reliable for the rest of the sales.”

The second problem is price dumping. Counterfeits are usually sold cheaper than the originals, which leads to lower prices for the brand as a whole and, as theory shows, to a loss of revenue for enterprises.

In addition, there were cases when supplies of Belarusian goods were completely blocked in Russia due to their unsatisfactory quality. "My experience shows that in 90% of cases these were not Belarusian products," said the deputy general director. "Thanks to our system, the manufacturer guarantees that this is his product and confirms its quality and originality."

So, what kind of system is this?

They mark both MILK and boots. The specified method of protecting goods from counterfeiting

Since 2021, Belarus has introduced mandatory marking for each category of goods with unified control marks of the sample sample. At the same time, a mobile application "Electronic Sign" was created, which recognizes the digital marking code Data Matrix applied to the product and helps to determine its origin.

Within the EAEU, goods from Russia and Belarus have actively taken up digital marking . In Russia, such a system is called "Honest Sign". "Electronic Sign" is a completely Belarusian system developed by our specialists, programmers and business analysts. The system consists of three main areas. This is the area where we still have a semi-analog system of unification with control signs, that is, a group of goods that have not yet switched to digital, but they are marked. This is about 20 groups of goods. The second area is marking of jewelry. This is a large financial and economic project, according to which all jewelry is recorded. This area is deeper than just digital marking, because where each element also undergoes assay work, there is the main stone, gold. The third area is marking of the identification method, which is gaining popularity today, "- explained Alexey Smirnov. Today, six groups of goods are marked in Belarus, and within the area with countries - about 15, mandatory for EXPORT, but not for the domestic market. "This system allows you to determine the originality of the goods at any stage of circulation with the help of a national application. For example, if you scan a bottle of milk, show when it was produced, expiration date, place of production and other characteristics. The system keeps track of the life cycle of each product," said Alexey Smirnov. In total, about 12 billion units of goods have been marked during the operation of the Electronic Sign system, with an annual increase of 3.5-4 billion.



Data Matrix is ​​a two-dimensional matrix barcode similar to a QR code. It can be scanned with a smartphone camera, and all information about the product is instantly displayed on the screen. If the data is indicated and the status is marked in green or yellow (for example, "marked", "shipped", "put into circulation"), this means that the product is legal. Red color indicates that the product is not subject to circulation in Belarus. Inconsistency of the information in the application for this product is a serious reason to doubt its country and quality.

The mobile application also has a "Complaint" button, available to registered users. In this section, you can report discrepancies or other violations by attaching photos of the product and the control mark. This information is used by regulatory authorities to take action.

The "Electronic Sign" application is also useful for buyers who choose products for a long time. It saves the scan history, and since July 2025 it will be possible to find out whether the product is left in the store. "For example, if you scanned boots, you can see if they were sold. If the store has the same ones, they will have their own unique code and their own history," added Alexey Smirnov.

Automation of labeling for business

Belarusian enterprises produce more than 350 types of goods, so manual labeling takes a lot of time and money. To solve this problem, a resident of the High-Tech Park, the Electronic Economy company, developed E-DMark software, which allows for a comprehensive transition to labeling of goods within the Electronic Sign system.

"We developed E-DMark back in 2021, when we just started introducing a group of goods that were mandatory for labeling with an identification tool. The very first groups of goods in which we participated were dairy products , clothing and footwear. Then we started labeling tires," said the company's director , Maxim Efimovich.

Software was developed for these groups of goods. "It provides a connection with the GIS "Electronic Sign" and allows you to select codes online, convert them directly in our software, and send marking reports. This makes it possible to complete an order, convert, apply, validate codes, and send marking reports. You can create series of goods and then sell them according to codes both in Belarus and abroad. The system is also well suited for importers who bring goods to Belarus from the CIS and third countries," he explains.

The application allows to provide the enterprise business processes for marking goods and to set them up as they need. Today, E-DMark software is used by more than 150 enterprises of different levels. Thanks to automation, the number of errors is reduced, comprehensive management of production and stocks is ensured, and changes and updates are promptly made.

BELTA.