Rospotrebnadzor bans foreign detergents from sale for not meeting safety requirements / Photo from kuban24.tv
Russia's Federal Service for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor) has made retailers withdraw foreign-made detergents, namely those produced by Henkel, Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, from shelves, according to Russian online newspaper Kommersant.
According to an official theory, the regulator found that some items of household chemicals did not meet safety requirements. Experts do not rule out that the officials' activity could usher in another round of trade wars caused by tense relations between Russia and the West, Kommersant wrote.
No decision has been made yet whether to include such foreign-made commodities in the Russian embargo list or not. The regulator said it would announce its further steps later.
Euromonitor International estimates the Russian detergents market last year at 103.7 billion rubles in retail prices. According to Nielsen Russia, the Russian market of detergents for washing machines in physical terms in 2014 amounted to about 600 million kg, the market capacity of dishwasher detergents exceeded 130 million liters last year. Procter & Gamble ranked first on the Russian market in 2014 with a 37.1% share in value terms, it was followed by Henkel with 20.9%, Euromonitor said.
IFC Markets analyst Dmitry Lukashov admits the regulator's inspections could be linked to the confrontation of Russia and the West and the ongoing tough regime of mutual economic sanctions. "But if in case of foods such violations are easier to find, the process will be more complicated in case of household detergents. What is more, some household chemicals are produced in Russia under foreign licenses, and closure or a reduction in production facilities is also a blow to the [Russian] economy and to people who work at such enterprises," Lukashov said. He said he did not remember such a large-scale campaign by the regulator against international manufacturers of household detergents.