OREANDA-NEWS. November 10, 2011. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) held a working meeting of the Expert Council on developing competition in the market of production and sales of ethanol, alcohol and alcohol products, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The meeting involved representatives of FAS Russia, the Union of Russian Brewing Companies, the leading world producers of beer, producers of technological equipment for the brewing industry, containers and packaging materials, as well representatives of wholesale and retail sectors for sale of brewing products.

Participants discussed a draft Technical Regulations of the Customs Union “On Alcohol Products Safety” in the part related to beer and beer-based beverages and pointed out that some changes are contrary to the international practice and standards, which may adversely affect the beer industry and introduced additional restrictions for market participants.

The main items of the agenda:

The new concepts of “beer” and “beer-based beverages” in the Regulations, that prohibit using aromatic and food additives and restricts using grain products and (or) sugar-containing products. Such restrictions can create considerable technical barriers for many well-known European and global brewing companies.

A ban to use plastic consumer packing in beer production, which contradicts the international standards and unreasonably puts the beer industry in worse conditions in comparison with producers of other alcohol drinks. (Currently around 50% of beer in Russia has plastic packing).

Participants stated that the issue of using various recipes and the balance of components for beer-making is regulated by the existing national standard, adopted in 2009, and it affects the quality and palatability traits rather than beer safety. If the current version of the Regulation is adopted, most widely known and most consumed beer brands produced in the Russian Federation as well as in other countries must be labeled “beer-based beverages” (for instance, Guinness, Hoegaarden and Corona Extra.

Today many dairy products, baby food, non-alcoholic beverages and other mass-consumption products use plastic consumer packaging. According to market participants, the ban for plastic consumer packaging in beer production is an attempt to redistribute the market of plastic consumer packaging to the benefit of producers of glass and aluminum packaging, rather than a measure towards observing safety requirements.

Participants also pointed out that the Technical Regulation “On Packaging Safety”, adopted by the Customs Union in August 2011, does not say that it is not safe to use phasic packaging for food products.

According to the information available to the Expert Council, if plastic packaging for beer is banned, over 60,000 outlets that sell draught beer, and are owned by small businesses, must be closed.

Summing up the meeting, the Expert Council made a decision to prepare comments and proposals regarding the draft Technical Regulations “On Alcohol Products Safety” that should then be forwarded to the Government of the Russian Federation and the Commission of the Customs Union.