Russia Proposes Transfer of Tobacco Market Regulation to Treasury Department

Recently, according to a decision on the website of the Russian Federation's regulation information disclosure portal (www.regulation.gov.ru), the authority for regulating the tobacco and tobacco products market in Russia may be transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Tax Service to the Ministry of Finance.

According to this document, the Ministry of Finance will be authorized to formulate national policies for the production and sale of tobacco and nicotine-containing products, as well as regulate the industry.

Furthermore, the document suggests that Russia's alcohol regulatory agency should be restructured into the Federal Bureau for Alcohol and Tobacco Market Regulation, with the authority to license the production and sale of tobacco products and enforce regulations in the industry. In this scenario, the restructured agency would maintain a registry of licenses for the production and sale of such products.

According to the documents, taking these measures would require additional budget allocations to expand regulatory measures in the alcohol industry and increase the number of staff members.

Earlier, the Russian media outlet Parliament Gazette reported that there may be a new regulatory body in Russia responsible for overseeing the sale and consumption of alcohol and tobacco.

Georgy Golovanov, Deputy Minister of Finance in Russia, has announced that their department plans to implement two information systems. One of these systems, the Unified State Automated Information System (EGIS), is already in use for registration in the Russian Federation. The other system will be used to monitor goods that require compulsory marking.

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Reference:

The regulation of the tobacco market has been suggested to be handed over to the Ministry of Finance.