The State Duma adopted a law on state regulation of the tobacco market by analogy with alcohol

Deputies of the State Duma in the second and third readings adopted a law on the establishment of state regulation of the production and circulation of tobacco and nicotine-containing products. The law will come into force on September 1, 2023, its separate provisions – in 2024 and 2025. This will work by analogy with the regulation of the alcohol market.

According to the law, Russia establishes the legal framework for the production and circulation of tobacco products, tobacco and nicotine-containing products and raw materials for them, and introduces state control over these products. According to the authors of the law, it will reduce the volume of illegal production of tobacco products and its turnover. As a model, the authors of the bill took the system of state regulation and control of the alcohol market.

WITH March 1, 2024 production, storage and supply of tobacco and nicotine-containing products and raw materials for their production, import and export of such products and raw materials, as well as purchase for sale in duty-free shops.

In addition, from this date, the conservation of non-operating equipment that is used for production in the tobacco industry will be mandatory. With the help of the monitoring system for marked goods, the volume of production and turnover of such products will be recorded. Also, from March 1, 2024, the rules prohibiting the sale of nicotine-containing products below the minimum price will come into force, it will be determined by the Russian government.

The law also introduces mandatory state registration of certain types of installed (assembled) basic technological equipment for the production of tobacco products, as well as tobacco and nicotine-containing products and raw materials. The Government will determine the types of such equipment.

WITH July 1, 2025 a ban will come into force on the placement in warehouses and production premises of the manufacturer of the relevant products and raw materials of equipment that is not in his ownership, economic management or operational management.

Also, in the second and third readings, a companion law was adopted, which makes the necessary amendments to the current legislation.

Previously reportedthat in 2022 the Federal Customs Service seized 82.5 million packs of cigarettes from illegal circulation. In addition, the department stopped the illegal circulation of about 17 million packs of tobacco products and more than 491 tons of tobacco raw materials in the amount of 1.7 billion rubles. According to participants industriesaccording to the results of 2022, the share of the illegal cigarette market increased to 13% against 1% in 2015.

Olesya Pavlenko