Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The Presidential Decree "On improving the management system in the field of production and regulation of the turnover of alcohol and tobacco products" was adopted.

In accordance with the decree, on the basis of the Agency for the Development of Viticulture and Winemaking under the Ministry of Agriculture and the Inspectorate for the Regulation of the Alcohol and Tobacco Market under the Ministry of Finance, the Agency for the Regulation of the Alcohol and Tobacco Market and the Development of Winemaking was established, as well as the Winemaking Development Fund without the status of a legal entity of this Agencies.

Among the main tasks of the Agency is the maintenance of a unified state policy in the field of production and sale of food and technical ethyl alcohol, alcohol and tobacco products, the wine industry, as well as the implementation of comprehensive programs aimed at the development of the industry.

The agency is determined by the authorized state body for:

licensing of activities in the wholesale trade of alcoholic beverages;

monitoring compliance with licensing requirements by persons engaged in the production of food and technical ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and tobacco products, as well as wholesale trade in alcoholic products;

distribution in the prescribed manner of edible ethyl alcohol between enterprises producing alcoholic and other products.

From 1 August 2020:

permits for the right to retail trade in alcoholic beverages, as well as on the right to sell alcoholic beverages by public catering enterprises are issued for an indefinite period;

natural wine products (excluding packaged ones) sold by producers in tasting zones (places) organized along tourist routes are subject to excise tax at a zero rate;

producers have the right to sell with the condition of advance payment of 50 percent of the cost of edible ethyl alcohol.