Message 001
Communication from the Commission - TRIS/(2026) 0633
Directive (EU) 2015/1535
Notification: 2026/0105/FI
Notification of a draft text from a Member State
Notification – Notification – Notifzierung – Нотификация – Oznámení – Notifikation – Γνωστοποίηση – Notificación – Teavitamine – Ilmoitus – Obavijest – Bejelentés – Notifica – Pranešimas – Paziņojums – Notifika – Kennisgeving – Zawiadomienie – Notificação – Notificare – Oznámenie – Obvestilo – Anmälan – Fógra a thabhairt
Does not open the delays - N'ouvre pas de délai - Kein Fristbeginn - Не се предвижда период на прекъсване - Nezahajuje prodlení - Fristerne indledes ikke - Καμμία έναρξη προθεσμίας - No abre el plazo - Viivituste perioodi ei avata - Määräaika ei ala tästä - Ne otvara razdoblje kašnjenja - Nem nyitja meg a késéseket - Non fa decorrere la mora - Atidėjimai nepradedami - Atlikšanas laikposms nesākas - Ma jiftaħx il-perijodi ta’ dewmien - Geen termijnbegin - Nie otwiera opóźnień - Não inicia o prazo - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare - Nezačína oneskorenia - Ne uvaja zamud - Inleder ingen frist - Ní osclaíonn sé na moilleanna
MSG: 20260633.EN
1. MSG 001 IND 2026 0105 FI EN 03-03-2026 FI NOTIF
2. Finland
3A. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö
Työllisyys ja toimivat markkinat -osasto
PL 32, FI-00023 VALTIONEUVOSTO
maaraykset.tekniset.tem@gov.fi
+358295047056
3B. Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö
Turvallisuus- ja terveysosasto
PL 33
FI-00023 VALTIONEUVOSTO
elina.kotovirta@gov.fi, saara.karttunen@gov.fi, tuomas.pulkkinen@gov.fi
4. 2026/0105/FI - C50A - Foodstuffs
5. Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health amending the Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on the Supervision of the Alcohol Act
6. Alcoholic beverages
7.
Requirements which reserve access to particular providers
The impact of the regulation on the extension of the scope of the direct-sales rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages has been assessed in the Government Proposal on the amendment of the Act. The proposed amendment to the law has been notified previously. The proposed amendment to the Decree clarifies the provisions of the legislative amendment concerning the content of self-monitoring plans and the reporting of information, and the amendment to the Decree has little independent impact.
Even if, in a previously notified proposal, the extension of the direct-sales right would open up a new sales channel for certain domestic producers of alcoholic beverages that cannot be accessed by producers established in other EU countries, the proposal would not put foreign operators at a disadvantage compared with domestic ones. Foreign operators may sell their own products manufactured outside Finland to Finnish consumers through distance selling procedures in accordance with the bill currently being debated in Parliament.
In the Government proposal concerning distance selling, the law would include clear provisions on cross-border distance selling. An operator based abroad would be permitted to sell alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of up to 80% to Finland via distance selling. Distance selling would be permitted both when the vendor uses a separate carrier and when the vendor personally delivers the alcoholic beverages to the buyer. Distance selling would enable foreign operators to enter the Finnish market efficiently and would give them even greater opportunities to sell alcoholic beverages directly to Finnish consumers than to local small producers. Operators established abroad may also sell their products to consumers through the State Alcohol Monopoly. The regulation does not prevent foreign producers or private individuals from owning Finnish alcoholic beverage producers or from establishing their production in Finland and selling from their place of production. The regulation cannot be considered discrimination against alcoholic beverages originating from other Member States or indirect favouring of domestic production.
The impact of the regulation on the extension of the scope of the direct-sales rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages has been assessed in the Government Proposal on the amendment of the Act. The proposed amendment to the law has been notified previously. The regulation in the proposed Decree clarifies the regulation of the amendment to the Act, and the amendment to the Decree has little independent effect.
The aim of the Government Proposal is to implement the Government Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. In accordance with the Government Programme, the Government will reform alcohol policy responsibly in a European direction and continue the overall reform of the Alcohol Act carried out in 2018. The Government’s objective is to promote fair and open competition and to create conditions for the growth of the domestic market.
The proposal would implement the commitment in the Government Programme, which allows all domestic small and craft breweries, small distilleries, and wineries to sell their products directly from the place of production to consumers under a retail sales license. In accordance with the Government Programme, the proposal would expand the direct-sales rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages. The proposal would improve the operating conditions for domestic alcoholic beverage producers by broadening sales channels and enabling entirely new operators, such as small distilleries, to sell their products from the place of production under a retail sales license. The proposal particularly promotes rural and regional tourism and strengthens the vitality of rural areas. It enhances the ability of small alcohol producers to offer more diverse tourism, visiting, and service concepts at their production sites. The proposal would improve consumers’ purchasing opportunities and freedom of choice, allowing them to purchase alcoholic beverages produced on-site at the end of a visit to the production facility. The proposal supports the local economy surrounding small-scale alcohol producers.
The impact of the regulation on the extension of the scope of the direct-sales rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages has been assessed in the Government Proposal on the amendment of the Act. The proposed amendment to the law has been notified previously. The regulation in the proposed Decree clarifies the regulation of the amendment to the Act, and the amendment to the Decree has little independent effect.
The Alcohol Act would be amended to expand the direct-sales rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages. The current law’s exceptions for estate wines and craft beers would be repealed, and henceforth the law would define a single exception for small producers allowing direct sales from the place of production of beverages: those fermented on-site containing more than 8.0 percent alcohol by volume and those produced otherwise containing more than 5.5 percent alcohol by volume. The proposal would promote the equal treatment of alcoholic beverage producers regarding on-site sales, as previously only craft breweries have been allowed to sell craft beers of up to 12% alcohol by volume on-site, and estate wine producers up to 13% alcohol by volume. Henceforth, other small producers of alcoholic beverages, such as small distilleries, would also be able to sell their products directly from the place of production.
The right to direct sales would require a retail sales license granted to the alcoholic beverage producer under the current law, in order to ensure proper operation and effective supervisory control by authorities. Such a retail sales license could only be obtained by holders of an alcoholic beverage production license. In practice, the licensing system ensures that traders operating in the alcohol sector are able to meet their obligations, are reached through supervision, and their illegal activities can be effectively addressed. The purpose of the Alcohol Act is to reduce the consumption of alcoholic substances by limiting and controlling the related economic activities in order to prevent the harm caused by alcohol to its users, to other people and to society as a whole. To achieve the purpose of the Alcohol Act, it is necessary that retail sales taking place at alcohol production sites fall within the scope of supervision and are subject to the same provisions as other retail sales, for example regarding permitted sales hours and prohibitions on transfers. If on-site sales at alcohol production sites were not supervised, a new sales channel would emerge alongside the retail licensing system, with no official oversight. The proposed regulation would thus implement the purpose of the Alcohol Act in a proportionate and effective manner.
The expanded right to retail sales would apply to producers manufacturing up to 100,000 litres of alcoholic beverages, converted to pure alcohol, in a calendar year. The intention is to allow only smaller, craft-style producers of alcoholic beverages to sell their own products on-site. These are typically small, highly local operators. In addition, the quantity of alcoholic beverages sold on-site during the calendar year would be limited where the alcohol content exceeds 5.5%/8.0% by volume. The place of production may sell no more than 25,000 litres of beverages over 5.5/8.0% alcohol, converted to pure alcohol, per calendar year.
Another condition for the retail sales right would be that a typical portion of the alcoholic beverage production takes place at the production site. Mixing, diluting, filtering, or other similar simple processing of alcoholic beverages would not be considered part of typical production. This ensures that on-site sales remain very limited in scale. Furthermore, the retail sales right would be restricted so that a producer may only sell fermented beverages containing more than 8.0% alcohol by volume, and other beverages containing more than 5.5% alcohol by volume, at a single production site physically separate from other producers.
The proposed expanded on-site retail sales right for alcoholic beverage producers would continue to differ in nature from traditional retail sales. The purpose of the proposal is not to create a large-scale retail channel competing with Alko’s monopoly, as Alko would continue to maintain its monopoly based on the protection of public health. For this reason, manufacturers’ on-site retail rights would be tied to their production site or its immediate vicinity, and alcoholic beverage manufacturers would not have the right to home-deliver beverages with an alcohol content exceeding 5.5%/8.0%. Customers would therefore need to visit the production site in person if they wished to purchase alcoholic beverages from manufacturers that fall under the exception.
Directive (EC) N° 2006/123 on services in the internal market
8. The Alcohol Act would be amended to allow local small-scale producers to sell products manufactured by them from production sites under a retail licence. The current exceptions for farm wine and craft beer would be repealed, and the law would henceforth define a single exception for small producers to sell directly from production sites fermented alcoholic beverages containing more than 8.0% by volume of ethanol and other alcoholic beverages containing more than 5.5% by volume of ethanol. The expanded right to direct sales would apply to producers manufacturing up to 100,000 litres of alcoholic beverages, converted to pure alcohol, in a calendar year. The above-mentioned amendments were notified within the framework of notification 2025/0782/FI.
Section 56 of the Alcohol Act lays down provisions on the license holder’s self-monitoring and the license holder’s obligation to prepare a self-monitoring plan. According to subsection 4 of section 56 of the Alcohol Act, a decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health shall lay down more detailed provisions on the preparation, content, and implementation of the self-monitoring plan.
Section 62 of the Alcohol Act provides for the supervisory authority’s right of inspection and access to information. According to subsection 4, a licence holder shall, on a regular basis, submit to the supervisory authority declarations and information regarding his or her sales and other operations necessary for supervision and operational risk assessment. Further provisions on submitting declarations and information are laid down by decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
It is proposed that the regulation be amended to take account of the new rules on small producers' direct-sales rights. Amendments would be made to sections relating to the retail self-monitoring plan and reporting obligations.
9. The sections of the decree to be amended concern more detailed provisions on the license holder’s self-monitoring plan and the license holder’s obligation to submit notifications and information to the supervisory authority.
Small producers should take into account in the self-monitoring plan how the license holder ensures that the requirements for direct sales are taken into account in their activities (Section 5).
In addition, small producers would have to provide the licensing authorities annually with information on the volume in litres of fermented alcoholic beverages containing more than 8.0 by volume of ethanol sold by them and the volume in litres of other alcoholic beverages containing more than 5.5 by volume of ethanol by volume (Section 9).
10. Basic text references: The basic texts have been provided in connection with an earlier notification:
2025/0782/FI
2025/0315/FI
11. No
12.
13. No
14. No
15. Yes
16.
TBT aspects: No
SPS aspects: No
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European Commission
Contact point Directive (EU) 2015/1535
email: grow-dir2015-1535-central@ec.europa.eu
