The Ministry of Finance proposed to postpone the entry into force of the technical regulation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) “On the safety of alcoholic beverages” to January 1, 2024, a representative of the department told Vedomosti. This document, which should regulate the rules for the production of alcoholic beverages, was adopted in 2018.
It was supposed to enter into force in January 2022, but in the current version it contains technical errors and inaccuracies, which, among other things, can lead to difficulties in the production of alcohol, explains the representative of the Ministry of Finance. In this regard, the Russian side proposed to postpone it. A representative of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) confirmed to Vedomosti that such a proposal had been received. According to him, this issue will be discussed at a meeting of the commission’s council on December 2.
The Finance Ministry supports the business initiative. The text of the technical regulations adopted in 2018 was being prepared 10 years ago, the names of many drinks, the composition and methods of their production have long been outdated, says Alexey Nebolsin, a member of the Presidium of Opora Rossii. Therefore, it is important to bring the document in line with the Russian laws that came into force during this time, and coordinate this with other EAEU countries.
Luding Group CEO Ernest Khachaturyan agrees that some of its provisions do not fully comply with current Russian regulations. For example, the law on viticulture and winemaking (468-FZ), which began to work in June 2020. With its introduction, for example, Russian products from foreign wine materials cannot be called wine, Nebolsin recalls. This led to the fact that many Russian winemakers almost completely abandoned the use of imported raw materials, some invested in the purchase of their own vineyards. It turns out that now this rule will be optional and the import of imported raw materials, which the Russian authorities fought against, can start again, he says.
If the document comes into force, then Russian winemakers “will find themselves in a field of unfair competition with other producers of products of unknown quality that will come to Russia under the guise of wine, agrees the President of the Abrau-Dyurso Group of Companies Pavel Titov. Khachaturian expects problems “along the entire sales chain: from retail outlets and chains to the production and import of wines and alcoholic beverages” due to the different classification in these documents.
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