Development of the policy of control over unrecorded alcohol in Russia in the period after 1991

Relevance. Unrecorded alcohol in Russia includes a variety of sources of cheap, often highly concentrated, ethanol, the use of which is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and death. Since 1991, various changes in the policy of control of unrecorded alcohol in Russia have been made, which became the subject of the analysis of this work.

Methods. The paper provides a narrative review and analysis of the regulation of unrecorded alcohol in Russia in the period from 1991 to 2021. The sources of information on legislative regulation were the ConsultantPlus and Garant electronic legal reference systems, published key scientific papers and reports of international organizations on the topic of alcohol regulation, and our own analysis of alcohol policy.

Results. During the study period, there was a large-scale restructuring of the regulation of the sphere of alcohol, including unrecorded alcohol, in Russia in the conditions of a new market economy. After the abolition of the Soviet alcohol monopoly and the regulatory pause of the first half of the 1990s, since 1995, the new legislative framework has been developed aimed at strengthening state control over the production and distribution of alcohol. In subsequent years, increased control over unrecorded alcohol by improving federal law No. 171-FZ, tougher sanctions for acts in the field of illegal production and distribution of alcohol through the improvement of the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the introduction of minimum prices for alcoholic beverages, have been made. An electronic system for monitoring the volumes of produced and sold alcoholic beverages was introduced, the Federal Service for the Regulation of the Alcohol Market was established, and bans were introduced on the sale of alcohol-containing products with a low unit cost of ethanol.

Conclusions. Overall, the policy on the control of unrecorded alcohol in Russia in the period after 1991 from the standpoint of public health can be characterized as positive and in line with international standards. However, it is necessary to strengthen control over the implementation of the already existing alcohol control policy measures, as well as to develop and implement new measures aimed at controlling unrecorded medicinal/pharmaceutical alcohol, medicinal alcohol-containing products, illegal alcoholic beverages and non-beverage products used as alcohol surrogates.

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