Rarely does any country have such a powerful system of government control in various consumer markets as the Russian Federation. There is a specialized state control body for this purpose - Rospotrebnadzor. He has broad powers in this area: from withdrawing a batch of low-quality goods from sale to suspending the construction of buildings and structures due to regular violations of construction technology and even disqualifying the company’s management. And one of the most effective and formidable tools here is an unscheduled inspection by Rospotrebnadzor. Let's tell you more about it.
What types of Rospotrebnadzor inspections are there?
There are 4 types of verification activities that Rospotrebnadzor uses in its practice:
Scheduled checks
Such inspections are carried out according to schedule. A routine inspection of an enterprise is carried out once every 3 years. Every year, a schedule of inspection actions is drawn up, which can be viewed on the official Internet resource of the department - https://rospotrebnadzor.ru. The entrepreneur is notified of this type of event (included in the plan) at least three days before its implementation. Such a notification is given to the responsible person at the enterprise or sent by mail.
In order to reduce the administrative burden on private business entities, as well as to prevent abuse during inspections by departments of various profiles, since 2021, private small and medium-sized enterprises (legal entities, as well as individual entrepreneurs) in Russia have been exempted from scheduled inspections by Rospotrebnadzor. Having adopted Law No. 480-FZ of December 25, 2018, parliamentarians extended the “testing holiday” in this area until December 31, 2020.
Documentary verification
This event is carried out on the territory of the organization (Rospotrebnadzor), or more precisely, in its territorial division. The inspection is carried out using official documents provided by the business entity confirming its compliance with the current legislation in the field of consumer markets, as well as the regulations of the department itself.
Unscheduled inspection
Unscheduled inspections by Rospotrebnadzor are also carried out on the basis of consumer complaints and other (including operational) information that is received by the central office of the department. An unscheduled inspection is usually carried out on site when potential violations are identified. However, the lack of planning for this action does not mean that the enterprise where the inspection is to be carried out is not notified about it. (This is simply necessary to ensure that responsible employees are at their workplaces).
They do not always warn: the exception is enterprises associated with the production and sale of food products - here an unscheduled inspection by Rospotrebnadzor is carried out without warning.
On-site inspection
The basis for organizing such an event, as a rule, is numerous consumer complaints that continue to be received by the department even after unscheduled raids and measures to prevent violations. Such verification is carried out to prevent potential harm to the life and health of a large number of citizens. Rospotrebnadzor employees personally arrive at the enterprise, where they carry out a total inspection of all aspects of economic activity that affect the quality of the final product.
An on-site inspection is most often unscheduled and its goal is not to correct individual “shortcomings” in the operation of the enterprise, but to most effectively suppress the spread of harm. So, based on the results of an on-site inspection, the activities of the enterprise may be suspended.
Types of checks
The main division is into:
- Scheduled checks
- Unscheduled inspections
One conclusion can be drawn: to the question of when to expect an inspector to visit, the answer will always be - always. In fact, the cancellation of scheduled inspections for the time being did not change the situation, because unscheduled ones continue to go on a rampage, and they are regulated by law 294-FZ (Part 2 of Article 10).
Auditing
It can be traveling, or it can be documentary.
An on-site inspection means that inspectors come to visit you personally. They come and confiscate everything that may be involved in the case (this is official, in fact, they can confiscate everything). And they check.
In the case of a documentary check , you will only get away with the fact that you will have to bring the documents on the case yourself.
Changes to the administrative code are not yet in effect. That is, until the summer of 2021 (and possibly for a longer period), you can forget about the possibility of receiving a warning rather than a fine.
Unfortunately, the practice of lawyers who defend audited organizations shows that there are outrageous cases. For example, during an unscheduled inspection (where a number of violations were discovered), one organization was closed for 3 months! This is precisely the period needed to eliminate all violations. It’s scary to say what losses the entrepreneur suffered.
And the fines themselves make some businessmen go gray before their time. So for individual entrepreneurs, fines usually start at 40 thousand rubles. And for legal entities we are talking about millions of rubles.
In what cases is an unscheduled inspection of Rospotrebnadzor carried out?
The basis for conducting an unscheduled inspection by Rospotrebnadzor, as already noted, is reports from the field about violations present at a specific facility (enterprise) - complaints from consumers. However, not every such request can initiate an inspection, and even an unscheduled one. So, what conditions must be met in order for verification activities to be carried out:
- The application must not be written anonymously. The agency considers “incognito denunciations” as violating the right of responsible persons at the enterprise to an objective investigation of the circumstances that led to violations.
- The statement must provide a detailed description of each violation. From this document it should be clear what exactly the citizen is complaining about and how it is related to the activities of the enterprise that is the subject of the application.
- Also, unscheduled inspections are carried out after the expiration of the period allocated to the entrepreneur to fulfill a previously issued order (if any) to eliminate violations and inconsistencies discovered during the previous scheduled inspection.
The rules for conducting an unscheduled inspection by Rospotrebnadzor provide that such emergency measures must be carried out in agreement with the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. In other words, this requires the approval of a prosecutor. And only if:
- there is a danger to the health or even the life of citizens and/or animals;
- The alleged violations occur at a facility associated with the production and distribution of food products.
Only in these cases does Rospotrebnadzor, by law, have the right to “arrive”, firstly, without warning, and secondly, without having a sanction from the Prosecutor’s Office.
How to avoid unscheduled inspections and fines
Routine inspections are mandatory, and other types can be avoided if:
- conduct activities in compliance with legal regulations;
- correctly prepare and submit reports to the Federal Tax Service on time;
- correctly calculate tax amounts, if inaccuracies arise, submit clarifications and enter arrears into the budget;
- comply with the norms of the Labor Code.
Study the legislative acts set out in Chapter 14 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. There are fines listed there. Also the Tax Code and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, from which you will learn what punishment faces for evading tax contributions.
The procedure for conducting an unscheduled inspection by Rospotrebnadzor
So, an unscheduled check could be:
- Documentary : it is required to provide official documents to the RPN confirming the enterprise’s compliance with current legislation and the unfoundedness of registered claims.
- On-site : RPN employees themselves identify everything on site.
IMPORTANT : the period for conducting an unscheduled inspection of any type cannot exceed 20 calendar days.
In normal mode, everything starts with a documentary check. During its initiation, the inspector has the right to request a strictly defined list of documents. The law prohibits demanding from responsible persons of the enterprise official documents that are not related to the essence of the matter.
EXAMPLE : in the case of checking the compliance of production control technology with specified standards and requirements, an RPN employee cannot require a conclusion on the completion of a routine medical examination by the company’s personnel. In accordance with RPN order No. 302N, only the medical institution, and not the employing enterprise, must respond to such a request.
You can submit documents to the RPN either in the form of simple (not notarized copies) or in the form of scanned copies via email.
An on-site inspection is carried out if:
- after conducting a documentary check, the department will continue to receive statements of violations;
- after formal elimination of violations identified during the documentary check (within 10 days after sending an official notification about this by the RPN), department employees will have reasonable doubts that all errors or contradictions have actually been eliminated.
What documents does Rospotrebnadzor check?
Scheduled visits by inspectors take place in accordance with the inspection schedule of Rospotrebnadzor, formed by the Prosecutor General's Office.
If the activities of an individual entrepreneur involve the use of natural resources or hazardous production equipment, cooperation with such a body is inevitable.
The list of documents for inspection by Rostechnadzor includes:
- certificates of state registration and tax registration;
- documents confirming ownership and presence of dangerous equipment;
- certificate of registration of the hazardous production facility and permission to commission;
- license to operate hazardous production facilities;
- documentation on staffing levels and their access to hazardous work;
- accident log;
- contracts with organizations performing technical inspection and repair of equipment.
In addition to documentation, inspectors will inspect the equipment and its technical condition. An audit can be carried out once every 3 years according to the Rostechnadzor inspection plan .
Upon request you must provide:
- a lease agreement or certificate of ownership of the premises in which the entrepreneur operates;
- employee medical records;
- contracts for the provision of disinfection, disinfestation, deratization services and waste removal;
- a license giving the right to carry out this type of business;
- sanitary inspection log;
- production control program approved by the manager.
They may request a certificate of assignment of an individual tax number and an extract from OGRNIP.
Unscheduled on-site inspection of Rospotrebnadzor
The procedure begins with both parties presenting their identification documents to each other (in accordance with Law No. 294-FZ):
- The company being inspected must represent either the general director or a person authorized by him, who must have a notarized power of attorney.
- The RPN employee is obliged to present his official ID, familiarize the director (or an employee authorized by him) with his rights and responsibilities, and also present an order for Rospotrebnadzor to conduct an unscheduled inspection. It must indicate: the subject of the verification activities (what exactly is being checked);
- a list of employees performing the inspection, as well as their powers.
Any third parties not named in this order have no right to take part in the verification procedure (including independent experts hired by one of the parties).
Inspectors at the facility should be provided with most favored nation treatment:
- all doors in the inspected premises must already be open or open upon request;
- For all questions, the necessary explanations must be given and supporting documents must be provided.
ATTENTION! It is much more profitable to immediately draw the attention of RPN employees to violations (if there are any) and ask them to reflect the fact of your cooperation with them in the protocol than to wait for them to identify them on their own. This will create a loyal attitude towards you during the procedure for determining penalties and during possible subsequent proceedings in court.
Promoting the activities of inspectors can also help in the courts if you consider the inspectors’ conclusions to be unfounded and biased. Provided that the reason for the fine is in fact of little significance, the court may reduce the amount of the fine by 2 times. Therefore, the main task during the inspection itself is not to multiply the number of these reasons.
Unscheduled inspection of Rospotrebnadzor without warning - is it legal?
Yes, it is legal, but only in cases where there are appropriate prerequisites for this. And this means the following reasons:
- Substantiated statements (not anonymous) from citizens about serious violations of the law committed on the territory and/or by employees of the inspected enterprise. In this case, supporting documents must be attached to the applications: cash receipts, audio and video recordings, advertising materials, etc.
IMPORTANT! The gradation of the severity of the violations committed can be found on the RPN Internet portal, but trade in counterfeit alcohol can be cited as a striking example.
An unscheduled inspection of a store (for example) by Rospotrebnadzor without warning can be carried out if there are reasonable fears that people or animals may suffer en masse as a result of violation of legal norms and rules.
Should Rospotrebnadzor warn about an unscheduled inspection?
It should be remembered that the very fact of warning the RPN about an unscheduled inspection is not the responsibility of this department! The presence of sufficient grounds is the “internal kitchen” of the RPN, where they also do not want to interfere with the work of private enterprises without special reasons. (Therefore, there must be a compelling reason for such emergency verification actions). But the responsible person of the inspected enterprise cannot complain that the Rospotrebnadzor inspection was carried out without advance notice.
Who checks? What are they checking?
Many citizens think that an individual entrepreneur may be subject to an inspection from any supervisory authority at any moment in order to take him by surprise, so they are in no hurry to open their own business. In fact, this is a misconception, since most inspections are carried out in accordance with a predetermined schedule, which can be found on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office.
The regulatory framework on the issues of inspections, their terms, rights and obligations of the parties is prescribed in Law No. 294-FZ of December 26, 2008 “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control.” In accordance with this law, the dominance of supervisory authorities has been abolished, businessmen are checked at regular intervals. In addition, there is a moratorium on inspections of small businesses in 2019, so new entrepreneurs will only be disturbed after 3 years of work. In this case, the visit of inspectors may take place much later. Government agencies practice a risk-based approach. The schedule includes businessmen whose reports or activities are questionable.
There are a lot of federal supervisory services, each area of activity has its own, but for individual entrepreneurs the most common are:
- Federal Tax Service;
- Rospotrebnadzor;
- Department of Economic Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
- Ministry of Emergency Situations;
- Rostrud;
- Rostechnadzor;
- Prosecutor's Office;
- Roskomnadzor;
- Rostransnadzor;
- Roszdravnadzor;
- Rosselkhoznadzor.
If one of these services comes to an individual entrepreneur, then the first thing that will interest the employees is whether he is legally or illegally engaged in business activities, and whether he has received permits. Therefore, all primary documents, such as the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs, extracts, licenses, should always be kept at hand. What else do federal services often check?
Federal Tax Service
Control activities of the tax service are not included in the publicly available list of inspections. It is impossible to know in advance about the auditors' visit. Law 294-FZ does not apply to this type of supervision, as is directly stated in its first article. However, the appearance of inspectors can be predicted based on the order of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation No. MM-3-06 / [email protected] dated 05.30.07.
Those businessmen who submit “zero” reports or pay wages to hired workers below the minimum wage are most often subject to individual entrepreneur tax audits. If during a desk audit, inspectors simply correspond with the taxpayer, sending requests for the presentation of certain documents, then during an on-site audit, the internal audit of activities will be checked on site and in more depth. Federal Tax Service employees will be most interested in:
- documents confirming expenses, if the individual entrepreneur is on the simplified tax system “Income-Expense” or unified agricultural tax;
- completeness of income reflection;
- documents confirming payment of duties for importing goods from abroad;
- compliance with cash discipline;
- coincidence of the average number of employees with the actual number;
- the validity of the costs taken into account when calculating obligations to the budget;
- accuracy of calculation of insurance premiums from labor payments;
- reality of transactions;
- accuracy of formation of tax registers, primary reporting, etc.
All verification activities can last from 2 to 6 months. If necessary, they can be suspended or extended. The rules are regulated by Chapter 14 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Attention! The law prohibits tax officials from checking the same tax more than once during a tax period. Even a closed entrepreneur can be checked during the first 3 years after cessation of work, especially if he is in debt.
Rospotrebnadzor
The service monitors compliance with the consumer’s rights to receive quality goods, and monitors compliance with sanitary standards in places where goods and services are sold. Therefore, Rospotrebnadzor inspections are often carried out at points of sale of food products and in catering establishments. To avoid violations, the organizer of such enterprises must strictly monitor:
- so that there are no expired products on the shelves;
- for proper storage of perishable products;
- that cooks in the kitchen have sanitary certificates and special clothing;
- for the presence of all price tags on the shelves;
- so that any consumer has access to a book of complaints.
An unscheduled inspection can be triggered by gross violations, the consequence of which was, for example, mass poisoning of people. The client can also file a complaint with Rospotrebnadzor about the presence of expired products in the store, unsanitary conditions, etc. This can even be done through the official website of the department.
It is also worth remembering that in 2021 the service received the right to conduct test purchases. Inspectors can appear at the point of sale under the guise of ordinary buyers (Law 81-FZ of 04/18/18).
Ministry of Emergency Situations
In connection with the latest tragic events in the shopping center in Kemerovo, the topic of fire safety is especially relevant. A wave of inspections from the fire inspectorate is quite expected not only in crowded places, but, in general, in all institutions that people visit. It will not be surprising if after this many property owners will have to organize a fire prevention system in accordance with the law, and not pay off the authorities, as was the case before.
Control is carried out by territorial divisions of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation in accordance with the inspection schedule for 2021. The supervision procedure is established by Administrative Regulation No. 323 of June 14, 2016. Unscheduled visits by auditors are allowed in the event of complaints or information about threats appearing in the media.
You should pay special attention to the following things:
- There must be a fire extinguisher in each room, and the person in charge must be able to use it.
- Fire safety briefings for personnel should be carried out regularly.
- Information must be displayed in a visible place: telephone number of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (01, 010), instructions for detecting a fire, evacuation plan.
- There should be exit signs and stairs hanging in the premises. All emergency exits must be open.
- The fire alarm must be in working order.
- The finishing of walls, ceilings and floors of evacuation corridors should not be flammable.
Important! Under no circumstances should fire safety be neglected! It’s better to organize everything conscientiously once than to deal with dire consequences later.
Unscheduled inspection of Rospotrebnadzor based on a complaint
Most often, unscheduled inspections are carried out by RPN in the following areas:
- retail;
- catering facilities;
- consumer services sector;
- construction sector.
Applications are accepted either in person (at the application window in each territorial office of the RPN) or online - by e-mail. In emergency cases, you can leave a voice message by calling the telephone hotline.
IMPORTANT! In any option for filing a complaint, the applicant’s data is required (if filing an electronic complaint, a qualified electronic signature is required). Anonymous applications will not be accepted for consideration.
Before a case is initiated and an order to conduct an unscheduled inspection is issued on its basis, the applicant will have to:
- Appear at the supervisory activities department and provide detailed testimony on the merits of the issue.
- Provide evidence of improper provision of services, or the sale of goods of obviously poor quality. These may be cash receipts, advertising materials, etc., which may indicate that actual results differ from the declared ones.
- Provide your personal data (in particular, you will need to present your passport).
IMPORTANT! The applicant has the right to demand that his personal data be excluded from the case file.
Lawyer to support inspections in Yekaterinburg
If you have never encountered unscheduled inspections or have negative experience with such inspections, then you should engage a lawyer to accompany the unscheduled inspection as soon as possible.
Our lawyers at the Law Office “Katsailidi and Partners” know perfectly well the provisions of the law devoted to the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control, and they know how to act in the event of a violation of your rights by inspectors.
Our lawyers:
- will advise on issues of unscheduled inspections
- will study the documents relating to the inspection carried out or being carried out on you
- may participate in communication with inspectors during the inspection
- prepare objections to the act, and, if necessary, challenge the results of the inspection
- will represent the interests of the principal in judicial authorities
The range of legal services of our law office is quite large, since we employ lawyers and jurists who specialize, among other things, in certain areas of law. This point plays an important role in protecting the rights of our clients, especially during unscheduled inspections.
Rospotrebnadzor - unscheduled inspection of individual entrepreneurs
Verification actions in relation to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are practically no different in their regulations. The difference is only in the total amount of time during which verification activities can last:
- For small businesses, the total inspection time should not exceed 50 hours per year.
- For micro-enterprises (this includes individual entrepreneurs with a number of employees not exceeding 15 people) – no more than 15 hours.
Extension of the inspection is carried out only if there are grounds by decision of the head of the territorial office of the RPN. In this case, verification actions must be carried out during business hours.
Inspection violations. Where to complain?
Each check may involve both lawful actions and actions that violate the law. If an individual entrepreneur assumes that there have been violations, then there is no need to remain silent, we need to start acting and complaining, writing protests. Only in this case can you not only defend your rights, but also create a precedent that will protect other entrepreneurs from similar actions. If your rights are violated, you can file a complaint with the arbitration court. You must set out in detail all the facts that violated your rights, attach all the documents you have, as well as other materials. Here they must accept your application and schedule a hearing. During the trial, it will be established whether there were violations or not, but just in case, you should hire a lawyer who specializes in these issues.
In addition, you can complain about the inspection inspector to the head of the controlling institution. You must write the complaint in two copies, on one the secretary of the institution must put a mark indicating acceptance of the complaint, the incoming number, number and signature. After 10 days, in accordance with the rules for responding to complaints and appeals from citizens, a response should be delivered to you at the address that you indicated in the complaint. By the way, don't forget to do this. If you have not received an answer, feel free to go to the arbitration court.
In exactly the same way, you can write a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office. This must be done in the locality where the inspection took place and where the regulatory authority that conducted this inspection is located. You can make an appointment to discuss personal issues with the prosecutor and hand over your complaint to him there. This can also be done very easily on the website of the Russian Prosecutor's Office by registering and creating a personal account there. One more subtlety. If the verification is still ongoing, and you have already discovered a violation, then you do not need to wait until the verification is completed. You must immediately go and complain, because when a report on your violations is drawn up, you will have to pay a fine, comply with all instructions, and only then, when the results of the inspection are declared invalid, will you return your money. Why these complex schemes? Act quickly and you can avoid unnecessary problems.
By the way, it is on the website of the Prosecutor’s Office that there are lists of all inspections that are coming this year. If you find your company on this list, then you can calmly begin preparing for the inspection.
