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On January 19, the RA National Assembly debated in the first reading the legislative package on Making Addenda to the RA Law on Trade and Services and on Making Addenda to the RA Code on Administrative Offenses.

The RA Ministry of Economy Vahan Kerobyan has informed that it is proposed to rewrite Article 4 of the Law on Trade and Services, according to which, in the objects of trade, the dairy products should be shown on separate shelves so that it will be clearly seen which dairy product is made from natural raw materials, which is from vegetable oil or from other content – milk fat substitutes or other additives. The words “contains a milk fat substitute” should be noted in the packaging of such dairy products.

The purpose of the draft is to protect consumer interests, so that buyers will immediately see the content of a dairy product.

The Minister informed that the legislative initiative was debated in the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, as well as with the private sector. It has been proposed to define that the regulation should apply to shops with a larger area, taking into account the limited opportunities of small shops and the difficulties in controlling them. The author of the initiative accepted the proposal.

The member of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Hovik Aghazaryan presented the endorsement of the Committee. He informed that according to the preliminary agreement reached in the Committee, the proposed amendment will refer to the shops with an area of more than 200 square meters.

Vahan Kerobyan answered the deputies’ questions and touched upon the proposals. Some of the deputies suggested not to single out the dairy product containing milk fat substitute or other additive, but to force the producers to mark on the product what contains every dairy product. Therefore, they thought that the initiative should be revised.

In his final speech, the Minister of Economy referred to the proposals, expressing readiness to debate them until the second reading.