President Approves Underage Drinking Law
President Approves Underage Drinking Law
The success of a new ban on selling alcohol to minors in Kyrgyzstan will hinge on reliable policing and the level of state control over the drinks industry, say NBCentralAsia observers.
On July 17, President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed a law to regulate the production and sale of alcoholic drinks and pure alcoholic spirit.
The new law makes it illegal to sell alcohol to under-18s, or to have it on sale in institutions that have to do with children, education, medicine, sports or culture, and in any kind of public transport.
People who want to buy alcohol will have to provide proof of their age.
NBCentralAsia commentators say the law should have a positive effect on young people’s health, although how effective it proves will depends on the level of state control over retail sales of alcohol and how well it is policed.
Economist Jumakadyr Akeneev says the law is a step forward in an area that is “in dire need of strong state regulation”.
According to the Foundation for Compulsory Medical Insurance, alcohol consumption in Kyrgyzstan has tripled over the last ten years and twice as many people now die from alcohol-related illnesses.
But while this law will greatly improve the nation’s health, it needs to be accompanied by a crackdown on the entire drinks industry from production and import right the way through to sales, since there is a lot of smuggling says Avazbek Momunkulov, who chairs parliament’s taxation committee.
“The state is creating the appearance of controlling the [drinks] industry, but in reality, even the licensing of the production and sale of alcohol is not regulated,” he said.
According to some estimates, around 70 per cent of all alcoholic products on the markets are illegal imports and the agency for production, storage and sale of alcohol – part of the agriculture ministry - says that around 100 tons of alcohol is smuggled into Kyrgyzstan every day.
The director of the Bishkek Centre for Economic Analysis, Sapar Orozbakov, warns that the law will not be policed properly because there is widespread corruption in the law-enforcement agencies, and minors will easily be able to get their hands on alcohol.
“Law officers let people off more serious offences than selling alcohol to underage people if they are paid a bribe. So I think this ban will be ineffective,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On July 17, President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed a law to regulate the production and sale of alcoholic drinks and pure alcoholic spirit.
The new law makes it illegal to sell alcohol to under-18s, or to have it on sale in institutions that have to do with children, education, medicine, sports or culture, and in any kind of public transport.
People who want to buy alcohol will have to provide proof of their age.
NBCentralAsia commentators say the law should have a positive effect on young people’s health, although how effective it proves will depends on the level of state control over retail sales of alcohol and how well it is policed.
Economist Jumakadyr Akeneev says the law is a step forward in an area that is “in dire need of strong state regulation”.
According to the Foundation for Compulsory Medical Insurance, alcohol consumption in Kyrgyzstan has tripled over the last ten years and twice as many people now die from alcohol-related illnesses.
But while this law will greatly improve the nation’s health, it needs to be accompanied by a crackdown on the entire drinks industry from production and import right the way through to sales, since there is a lot of smuggling says Avazbek Momunkulov, who chairs parliament’s taxation committee.
“The state is creating the appearance of controlling the [drinks] industry, but in reality, even the licensing of the production and sale of alcohol is not regulated,” he said.
According to some estimates, around 70 per cent of all alcoholic products on the markets are illegal imports and the agency for production, storage and sale of alcohol – part of the agriculture ministry - says that around 100 tons of alcohol is smuggled into Kyrgyzstan every day.
The director of the Bishkek Centre for Economic Analysis, Sapar Orozbakov, warns that the law will not be policed properly because there is widespread corruption in the law-enforcement agencies, and minors will easily be able to get their hands on alcohol.
“Law officers let people off more serious offences than selling alcohol to underage people if they are paid a bribe. So I think this ban will be ineffective,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
