Law on Alcohol Control

The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation has drafted amendments to the Law on Alcohol Control, which were approved by the Government on Wednesday, in order to reduce administrative burdens and create more favourable competitive conditions for businesses.

The Seimas of Lithuania has backed a proposal of a group of lawmakers to ease the sale of low-alcohol drinks. As of August 15, the sale of drinks with up to 15 degrees of alcohol in them will be allowed from non-stationary catering outlets.

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė has signed the amendments to the Alcohol Control Law, which were adopted by the parliament and triggered heated discussions in the society, thus imposing substantial restrictions on alcohol trade, consumption and advertisements as of 2018.

Following lengthy public discussions and parliamentary debates, the Seimas on Thursday significantly tightened regulation of alcohol sales, use and advertising, with some bans to take effect in early 2018 and others in early 2020.

The sale of drinks with an alcohol content of up to 7.5 percent during free public events will not be restricted, the Lithuanian parliament decided on Thursday.

Young people under the age of 20 will not be allowed to buy or drink alcoholic beverages in Lithuania starting next year.

After an unannounced meeting with President Dalia Grybauskaitė, the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union's leader Ramūnas Karbauskis said that the president would not veto the amendments to the Law on Alcohol Control aimed at tightening rules of trading.

The Lithuanian parliament is inclined to raise the minimum legal alcohol drinking age to 20 starting next year.

The fate of Lithuania's ruling coalition may depend on how the Social Democrats vote on a package of measures aimed at curbing alcohol consumption, Ramūnas Karbauskis, the leader of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LFGU), the bigger party in the coalition, said on May 19.

The opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats proposes that the parliament temporarily suspend debates on a controversial package aimed at sharply reducing access to alcohol until political groups in the Seimas reach consensus and muster enough votes to pass the legislation.

Several hundred people gathered outside the parliament building in Vilnius on Tuesday to watch a show staged to protest against the ruling coalition's plans to restrict alcohol consumption at concerts and other mass events.

The board of the Lithuanian Seimas decided on Friday that alcoholic beverages will no longer be sold in the parliament's restaurant and cafes, but will continue to be allowed during official receptions.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė on Friday signed into law amendments to the Law on Alcohol Control that require retailers to ask alcohol buyers to show identification documents only if there is doubt that they are of the legal drinking age.

After the Lithuanian parliament reversed the alcohol sales scheme on Tuesday, the head of the Association of Trade Enterprises said that the new scheme would facilitate purchase of alcoholic beverages by young people.