EAC mark and Chestny ZNAK: what must be on the packaging

The EAC mark and Chestny ZNAK codes (the national labelling system) solve different tasks. The first says: the product conforms to the regulation. The second makes it possible to trace the movement of an individual unit from the manufacturer to the checkout.

The difference at a glance

What is mandatory on the label

• The name of the product and its purpose
• The name and address of the manufacturer and the importer
• The country of origin
• Main characteristics: composition, size, power — as required by the regulation
• Service life or shelf life and storage conditions, if applicable
• The single mark of circulation on the EAEU market

What the marketplace checks

For more on which set of documents the platforms ask for, see the article on documents for Wildberries and Ozon. For what to do if the document has not yet been issued, see the review of the forms of conformity confirmation.

Size, place and method of application

The requirements for the mark itself are worded briefly, but they are violated regularly — usually because of the packaging design.

• Legibility. The mark must be distinguishable with the naked eye. A minimum size is set — 5 mm; proportions are kept when scaling.
• Contrast. A single-colour image that contrasts with the background. A coral mark on coral packaging does not meet the requirement.
• Place. It is applied to the product and to the packaging, and also to the operating documents. If it is impossible to apply it to the product itself — only to the packaging and the documents.
• Durability. The mark must remain throughout the service life. A sticker that peels off after the first wet cleaning does not meet the requirement.

What must be placed next to the mark

The EAC mark on its own is not complete labelling. Next to it there is a mandatory set of information, the content of which is defined by the applicable regulations. The minimum core is almost the same everywhere.

The information is given in Russian. Some categories have their own additional fields: composition for food products and cosmetics, age for children’s goods, care symbols for textiles.

Import: when to apply the sticker

Imported products almost always arrive without Russian-language labelling, and the question comes down to the moment at which to apply it.

• Labelling must be in place before the product is released into circulation — that is, before sale, not after a request from the platform
• The best option is application on the manufacturer’s side: the label becomes part of the packaging
• Stickering at a warehouse is permitted, but the sticker must not cover the mandatory information of the original
• The adhesive and the material are chosen so that the sticker does not come off during storage and transportation
• For marketplaces, stickering after acceptance at the platform warehouse is usually impossible — plan in advance

Typical application errors

EAC and voluntary certification marks

Other badges are also found on packaging: RST, marks of voluntary certification systems, eco-labels, “verified” logos of varying degrees of invention. The difference is fundamental.

• EAC — the mandatory market circulation mark of the Union. It means that the technical regulations have been met.
• Marks of voluntary systems — confirm conformity with the requirements of a specific system, not with regulations. They do not replace mandatory documents.
• Marketing badges — confirm nothing and, if untrue, may be considered misleading the consumer.

A voluntary mark next to a mandatory one is acceptable, but it must not give the impression that it replaces EAC. What exactly your product requires and in what form is covered in the article on choosing the form of the document.

What to do if the mark was applied with an error

The batch has arrived, and the mark is in the wrong place, of the wrong size or absent altogether. The order of actions depends on where the goods are.

• The goods have not yet been released into circulation — relabel before sales begin; this is the cheapest scenario
• The goods are in a marketplace warehouse — find out whether the platform allows relabelling on its territory; more often the batch has to be taken back
• The goods are already on sale — suspend sales, correct the labelling, and only then return the goods to circulation
• The mark is there, but there are no documents — stop sales immediately: this is a more serious violation than the absence of the mark

Relabelling must not hide information on the original packaging. A sticker that covers the composition or the shelf life in order to place the EAC mark creates a second violation instead of solving the first.