Furniture labelling and fight against illegal production to be discussed at Mebel 2026
The Session on Labelling is set to be held by the Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia within the conference programme of Mebel 2026. It is now a highly relevant topic in the Russian furniture industry.
Photo EXPOCENTRE AOTo date, furniture products are not included in the Chestny ZNAK (Fair Sign) experiment with Data Matrix codes. The pilot project on home and interior goods, launched a year ago, included only tableware, decorative items, kitchen utensils, watches, but not furniture. Manufacturers of furniture products go through a different procedure that is confirmation of conformity according to technical regulations TR CU 025/2012 with the EAC mark and information label. However, there are talks about labelling.
A year ago, Timur Irtuganov, General Director at the Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia, raised the issue of labelling during Mebel 2025. He expressed the opinion that the introduction of furniture labelling could hit transparent manufacturers the most and create new difficulties for them. At the same time, it was said that the labelling system was expanding every year and furniture was an obvious candidate in this queue.
There are a lot of questions about labelling because furniture is a multi-component product. Will only the final product be labelled, or each of its individual elements? How will the labelling be applied to furniture made according to individual sizes and designs? How will this affect the final cost?
Only a few representatives of furniture manufacturers believe that labelling in its current form will help steer the market in the right direction and should protect manufacturers and buyers. Most people are sure that this will become an additional burden for businesses, and for small businesses it can turn into a disaster. That is why, in their opinion, today this measure is premature and it is worth postponing the issue until next year.
At this stage, the Association doubts the effectiveness of labeling for furniture products. “This tool, as it is currently offered by the government, can seriously complicate the situation for most furniture manufacturers. This initiative needs to be reviewed, because in today's realities it is absolutely counterproductive to introduce any additional encumbrances," emphasizes the Association.
In its turn, the Association has taken the initiative to create a working group in order to strengthen control over illegal furniture manufacturers by tax and law enforcement agencies. According to the Association's estimates, the share of counterfeit production in the Russian furniture market could reach up to 40%, and the volume of the shadow market was about 40 billion rubles. As a result, legal manufacturers compete not with each other, but with their underground counterparts. According to the Association's president, Alexander Shestakov, this could lead to “illegal furniture manufacturers squeezing legal ones, who create jobs, pay taxes and develop the Russian economy, out of the Russian market.” (Source: Furniture Communication Project)
The session within Mebel 2026 will cover all pressing issues of labelling and the main tasks of the working group and specific mechanisms for implementing such control.
Dmitry Kuskov, Director of the Department of Light Industry and the Timber Industry of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, unequivocally commented that there would be no labelling in the furniture industry this year. He stressed that furniture is a rather complicated product to label as it consists of a large number of components that can even be delivered differently. First of all, it is necessary to conduct a serious consultation with all furniture manufacturers about how they see the problems associated with labelling, and in what format it would be applied.
“We usually have finished products under mandatory labelling. If we are talking about furniture, we all need to discuss the concept of a finished product to actually understand what needs to be labelled,” said Varvara Mikhailova, Head of the Consumer Goods Department at the Centre for Advanced Technology Development–an operator at the Chestny ZNAK National Track & Trace Digital System. “This furniture labelling experiment requires careful preparation and determining how and what to label.”
The session’s participants will also discuss options for licensing furniture production, strengthening control over certification, and compliance with technical regulations.
The Session on Labelling will take place on 24 November 2026 from 11:00 to 12:30 in Pavilion 3 (Hall 15, Business Formula area). The event will be moderated by Timur Irtuganov, General Director at the Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia. Participation is free, but registration is required.
Mebel 2026 will take place at Crocus Expo, Moscow, Russian, from 23 through 26 November 2026.
Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO