The company "August" analyzed the market situation with counterfeit pesticides for personal and subsidiary plots. The number of fakes is growing rapidly along with the market of chemical plant protection products for summer cottages and gardens. Today, their share is at least 30% of the total market. Fraudulent methods of manufacturing and selling fakes are evolving. So, large batches of illegal products are often mixed with part of the original. In this case, it is quite realistic to stumble on both ordinary water and real poison for plants and people. Fake manufacturers are able to reproduce the original packaging to the smallest detail. However, only 10% of buyers are willing to verify the authenticity of the drugs, and 7 out of 10 summer residents who understand that they have acquired a fake, still use it. This endangers not only kitchen gardens and their owners, but also people who purchase products of private farms in the markets.
Without the use of chemical plant protection products (CSF), it is simply impossible to harvest a good crop at times. Preparations for use in personal and subsidiary plots in Russia, like the rest of the KHSR, are required to be registered and entered into the State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for use in the Russian Federation. In many countries, the registration of a drug used in the agricultural industry implies that in fact it can also be used in LPH, but in Russia, drugs for LPH are registered separately and are marked with the letter “L” in the catalog. In addition, they must have a declaration of conformity. Large retail chains, shops and garden centers, before taking the goods for sale, are sure to check the required documentation, while in the markets, in stalls or in small stores, they are most often not concerned about this.
“Twenty years ago, when we first entered the segment of chemicals for private household plots, it looked completely different. If we talk about counterfeit, then faked two or three drugs that are successful in the market - an insecticide, herbicide and fungicide. They were packaged in ampoules, and unscrupulous merchants competed who would sell cheaper. There were at least half of fake products on the market, and counterfeiters were countless: one-day firms that change once every two years. When our products appeared - in good company packaging, in a wide assortment and factory quality - the three notorious drugs in ampoules could not compete with us, ”comments Lyudmila Lyulyeva, Head of the Department of Plant Protection and Plant Protection for August Private Enterprise JSC.
However, today counterfeit in the segment is presented in a wide variety of variations: from tinted water to a fundamentally different drug inside the package - for example, a herbicide instead of an insecticide that simply destroys the plant. The original product may be liquid, and a fake of the same name may be in powder form. A well-known brand can be indicated on a bottle with a substance that simply does not exist in the original line of this manufacturer. Inside, there may well be the same active substance (DV) as in the original - it even happens that there is more of it in a counterfeit pesticide. But "more" does not mean "better." So, DV can be of extremely low degree of purification, while excipients - surfactants, stabilizers, solvents - also play an important role in the effectiveness and safety of the product. In addition, you can find drugs that simply do not exist in the field of LPH. So, in the agro-industrial complex it is allowed to use II hazard class preparations, the use of which is allowed only under the supervision of plant protection agronomists, while only III and VI hazard classes can be used for LPH - these are low-hazard or non-hazardous substances, and II class drugs in this category are unacceptable.
“The difficulty is that there is currently an evolution of sales by fraudsters: today only completely rabid scammers are selling pure counterfeit. Usually, fraudsters come to our large distributor, purchase a small batch of the product, receive real documents for it, then they purchase counterfeit goods, mix the goods and sell them. This, in turn, complicates the control purchase - it turns into a kind of lottery, ”notes Lyudmila Lyulyeva, one of the key features of the current state of the market.
The quality of packaging falsification is also growing: they can fake a bottle of the original form with an embossed logo, and lids, and blisters. Another thing is that the packaging is cheaper: plastic bottles without a barrier layer that protect the drug from leaking for a very short time, as well as cardboard, films and labels of lower quality. However, in any case, we can talk about expensive and complex industrial activity by scammers: a mold is created for the bottle, cardboard is purchased, labels are printed, etc.
Counterfeit products typically come from China and India. It is believed that the formulation and packaging of drugs is already taking place in the CIS, including in Russia. The main "hotbed" of fakes are the markets where small traders and wholesalers are bought who deliver counterfeit goods to districts and rural settlements. Major distributors at the August company are warned that if counterfeit products are identified in their assortment, cooperation with them will be terminated. Typically, manufacturers of original products find out about the appearance of fakes when product sales stop: it turns out that at the same point “the same” product appeared much cheaper.
“I believe that counterfeit pesticides for gardeners and gardeners now occupy 30% in the segment,” says Lyudmila Lyulyeva. - Approximately the same assessment is given by many colleagues. The market volume in money is constantly growing, and the number of counterfeit goods is growing, but its share is approximately preserved. Once I conducted an experiment: when I learned about the arrival of a large batch of counterfeit products to one of our well-known drugs, I reduced the price of the product to the cost of counterfeiting, and our sales immediately grew by almost a third. This indirectly confirms that we are right in our assessment. Most often counterfeit funds from the Colorado potato beetle - in 7 out of 10 cases, and 30% - everything else. It should be noted that such a variety of KhSZR for summer residents, as in Russia, is nowhere in the world. If you go to the store of a large German or French chain in Europe, then there will be dozens of times less such products, because they have such a less developed tradition - to grow vegetables and fruits on weekends. ”
However, at the same time, many Russian summer residents relate to the use of KhSZR in their areas with extreme carelessness, emphasizes Lyudmila Lyuleva. A few years ago, the August company developed another way of countering counterfeiting: stickers with a product code were glued to the drug, and anyone who purchased the drug could send a free SMS message with the code to immediately receive information about the authenticity of the product (stickers soon too started to fake, but the code on them was always the same). It turned out that products are checked by only 10% of buyers, even despite the attendant prize draw. Moreover, 7 out of 10 people who learned that they had bought a fake drug continued to use it.
“People do not realize the level of danger and inflict invaluable harm on themselves and nature. The improper use of pesticides and the use of counterfeit products are pollution of the soil and groundwater, these are its residues in fruits and vegetables, leading to serious diseases affecting the reproductive system and the whole organism. I always give an analogy with drugs for treating people: to eliminate a mild cold, drink tea with raspberries, and for pneumonia, use antibiotics. But if you use them every time you sneeze, then nothing will help. Or I recall one of the clients who said that our preparation was just wonderful - I poured one bottle on a bucket and all the insects died. I am perplexed: like a bottle on a bucket, you need 1 milliliter per 10 liters. And he replies that he made it stronger - not for himself, but for sale ... So, not only the summer resident, but also any person who purchases food may face the consequences of improper use of the plant protection product: those who sell their fruits and vegetables, and are the waiting times from processing to harvesting met? ”
In Russia, the fight against counterfeiting in the private sector is complicated by the fact that it is difficult to enter the manufacturer through an intricate chain, and the fine for traders, especially without a legal entity, is minimal - from 2 thousand rubles. “Until 2011, supervision of the KhSZR for personal and subsidiary plots was within the competence of the Rosselkhoznadzor, and the work to identify falsification was carried out very efficiently, which had a positive effect on the market then,” says Lyudmila Lyulyeva. - Now these functions are transferred to Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The situation has become more complicated: against the background of a wide range of tasks being solved in these departments, the topic of pesticides is definitely not a priority. Therefore, I consider it expedient to connect to the control of the relevant department and increase fines for dishonest sellers tenfold. Only under the condition of state control over the sale of plant protection products in private household plots and a conscious attitude of the population to their use, we will be able to preserve nature, harvest and our own health. ”
Material provided by the Public Relations Service of JSC Firm "August"