Extreme economy

In buying food Ukrainians tend to trust the supplier’s bona fide approach, yet in time of financial crisis the supplier’s main task is to get maximum profits at minimum production costs. Hence the increasing number of those wishing to earn an extra buck by economizing on quality.

According to Larysa Losiuk, chairperson of the State Consumer Standard Committee of Ukraine (Derzhspozhyv­stan­dard), in the course of last year’s inspe­ctions poor-quality foods and non-foods worth more than 100 million hryvnias were impounded and prevented from being sold, which is 27.9 percent of all products inspected.

In 2008 the Derzhspozhyvstandard checked over 48,300 retail trade outlets, restaurants, and services, detecting more than 3,000 cases of fraud, some 94,500 failures to provide timely and complete information about the goods, and nearly 92,700 cases of selling products without the accompanying documents. As a result of such quality inspections, 44,000 transgressors were meted out administrative punishments and fined 5.96 million hryvnias (5.5 million in 2007). Administrative and economic sanctions were applied to transgressing businesses to the tune of more than 32 million hryvnias.

However, the number of unfair sellers and suppliers caught red-handed could have been even larger, admits the Derz­h­spoz­hyv­s­tandard. Because of budget underfunding in the first half of 2008, the territorial communities could not carry out all the laboratory tests to check the quality of products, raw materials, and semi-prepared foods. Under the circumstances, it was impossible to guarantee the consumer’s full protection against defective and hazardous products.

Viktor Trofymenko, executive director of the all-Ukrainian nonprofit organization Consumers’ Union of Ukraine, believes that there are actually more defective products than detected by the Derzhspoz­hyv­standard: “There are lots of products here in Ukraine that do not conform to set quality standards or carry misleading labels. This is explained by the underfunding of the controlling authorities.” On the other hand, inadequate legislation allows producers to make products based on technical specifications rather than official standards.

What does this mean? Manufacturers adopt and use tech­­nical specifications at their dis­cretion. So, instead of meat you fi­nd soybeans, starch, and various ar­tificial flavors in sausages, frankfurters, and mi­n­ced meat.

“Money comes first in business, so in the absence of barriers set by official controlling authorities business has its way, lowering the prime cost of products by lowering their quality,” adds Trofymenko. Quite a few poor quality products are being imported. Under the guise of WTO membership, Ukraine is limiting its protection and lowering the barriers for sales of goods and services. Because of this, a lot of imported products are being checked superficially at best, says the expert.

“The largest numbers of defective products are found among consumer goods, particularly meat and dairy products,” Tetiana Tymochko, first deputy chairperson of the All-Ukrainian Ecological League, told The Day. In her opinion, the situation can be improved by enacting a law that envisages criminal prosecution of unfair producers and improves product authorization and inspection procedures: “Obso­le­te equipment and obsolete sta­ndards used in checking food­stuffs do not conform to modern requirements and Eu­ro­pean standards.”

Experts queried by The Day have varying opinions on the impact of the economic crisis on the amount of defective products. Tymochko is convinced that a number of Ukrainian businesses supply products abroad so they are not likely to risk their reputation. Trofymenko says that few businesses are working for imports, so the amount of defective products is likely to increase because the manufacturer will look for ways to reduce production costs and the consumer — to pay less. To avoid being gypped by such businessmen, Trofymenko says Ukra­in­i­a­ns should check the best-before date when buying food products. If possible, they should sniff at a product, examine its visually, and keep the cash register slip.