The key facts

  • State Duma deputy Kaplan Panesh proposed a 'Product with an expiring shelf life' label on price tags and in product cards.
  • The requirement is proposed to extend to non-food goods stored for years.
  • Administrative liability is proposed for violations; the initiative remains a proposal, not an adopted law.

The essence of the proposal

Selling goods past their expiration date is prohibited in Russia, but the law does not prevent selling at a discount items with only a few days left before expiry. State Duma deputy from the LDPR, first deputy chairman of the Budget and Taxes Committee, Kaplan Panesh told Life.ru, that this category of goods should be honestly labeled: the price tag or product card should carry a clearly visible notice reading 'Product with an expiring shelf life' or 'Discounted product.' In his view, buyers currently believe they got lucky with a discount, only to discover spoiled jam or unusable cosmetics at home — which, in the parliamentarian's assessment, is an exploitation of consumer inattention.

Why the information gets lost today

Under current legislation, the seller is obliged to inform the buyer of the shelf life, but the form in which this information is presented on the price tag is not specified. In practice, the date is printed on the packaging in small type in a hard-to-reach spot, while the price tag shows only the price and the name — the buyer learns the important details only after the purchase. Provisions of the platform economy law requiring marketplaces to indicate shelf life in the product card are due to take effect on October 1, 2026, but these requirements apply only to online commerce. Panesh's proposal precisely closes this gap: he proposes obliging all retail outlets, including offline stores and online platforms, to place goods nearing expiration in a separate category.

Non-food goods and liability

The deputy proposes extending the requirement to non-food goods as well: shoes, bags and clothing from old collections lose their consumer properties during long storage, and the buyer, in his example, learns that the sneakers were made in 2013 only when the sole comes off after a week of wear. If a product was manufactured several years ago, this information should be communicated to the consumer. In addition, Panesh proposed establishing administrative liability for sellers: selling a product with an expiring shelf life or a product made years ago without warning should become grounds for a fine comparable to sanctions for gross violations of sales rules. 'The buyer should not have to play the lottery. If the shelf life ends tomorrow — say so honestly,' he concluded. It is important to emphasize: for now this is a deputy's initiative stated in a comment to the publication, not an adopted law — the publication does not report the submission of a relevant bill or its consideration.

I propose obliging all retail outlets, including offline stores, online platforms and marketplaces, to place goods with less than a certain number of days remaining before their expiration date in a separate category. The price tag or product card must carry a clear and noticeable label: 'Product with an expiring shelf life' or 'Discounted product.' The consumer must have all the necessary information before making a purchaseI propose obliging all retail outlets, including offline stores, online platforms and marketplaces, to place goods with less than a certain number of days remaining before their expiration date in a separate category. The price tag or product card must carry a clear and noticeable label: 'Product with an expiring shelf life' or 'Discounted product.' The consumer must have all the necessary information before making a purchaseWhat to do if an item was rung up at the register at a higher price than on the price tag: explained without complicated terms