The beverage industry is widely dissatisfied with the recent alcohol reforms carried out in Finland, with some major players taking their grievances to the EU Commission.
The legislation, which went into effect in June, brought fermented beverages containing up to eight percent alcohol to grocery store shelves. Previously drinks containing more than 5.5 percent alcohol were only available in state-run Alko shops.
So far, two groups have submitted complaints to the commission, including the Association of Alcoholic Beverage Suppliers in Finland and SpiritsEurope, a Belgian-based lobby representing spirit drinks producers.
SpiritsEurope's members include 31 national industry associations from 24 countries along with 11 spirits manufacturers, according to its website.
The director of the Finnish beverage suppliers' association, Susanna Heikkinen, said the organisations' complaints are similar.
According to Heikkinen, SpiritsEurope has monitored Finland's alcohol reforms with a degree of concern, because, in her view, the law poses obstacles for foreign companies to compete in Finland.
Finland's Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry is also preparing to file its own complaint, with plans to send it to the commission by next month, according to its interim director, Katriina Jaakkola.
Fermented vs distilled
According to Jaakkola, the worst part of Finland's alcohol reform is the manufacturing method limitation. The new law says that eight percent alcoholic drinks can be sold in normal shops, but only if the alcohol is derived through fermentation — which effectively leaves drinks containing distilled spirits off of store shelves if they contain more than 5.5 percent alcohol.
"The change makes no sense and is not backed up by factual evidence — the sale of alcohol should not be regulated according to how it is produced, but according to its alcoholic content. Consumers cannot tell how the drink was made," Jaakkola said.
The beverage suppliers' group director Heikkinen shared the same opinion.
"Manufacturing methods have not been shown to be significant in terms of reducing social harms," Heikkinen said.
Jaakkola said the new law treats manufacturers on unequal footing, arguing that companies that sell distilled spirits are being discriminated against and that the situation is not in line with EU rules.
As it proposed the reform, the Finnish government justified the exclusion of beverages containing distilled spirits on health grounds and protecting young people. The rationale was that distilled products include alcopops, which are popular with young people.
But the EU Commission did not agree with the reasoning, and sent Finland a letter stating that the health criteria defending the law change were lacking. Despite that, the bill was passed as originally planned.
The brewing and soft drinks federation's Jaakkola said the group is waiting for the commission to issue an opinion on the matter, expecting it will say that keeping products containing spirits away from store shelves is not acceptable.
She also reckons that Finland will end up revising the legislation to comply with EU rules.
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