Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At the twenty-seventh plenary session of the Senate, the Law "On restricting the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products" was considered.

This Law contains the norms of the laws “On Restricting the Distribution and Consumption of Alcoholic and Tobacco Products”, “On Restricting Smoking of Hookahs and Electronic Cigarettes in Public Places”. In this regard, it is envisaged to recognize them as invalid.

However, at the plenary session, members of the Senate adopted a resolution to reject the Law due to the fact that there is a need to clarify its basic concepts, there are conflict rules, and law enforcement practice has not been studied in depth.

A number of issues are cited as the main reasons for the rejection.

Thus, it is envisaged to carry out propaganda and propaganda work on the dangers of drinking alcohol and tobacco products only among minors, a ban on the sale and consumption of such products for persons under 21 years of age. As a result, persons over 18 years of age and under 21 years of age are excluded from the Act.

Also, the Law includes "nasvay", "tobacco snus", "nicotine snus" in the category of non-smoking tobacco products. At the same time, the content of “nasvay” is disclosed in a separate paragraph, but other new types of non-smoking tobacco products – “tobacco snus”, “nicotine snus” are not disclosed, their differences are not stated.

The Law only states in what cases it is allowed to advertise natural and sparkling wines produced in the Republic of Uzbekistan. However, Article 39 of the Law “On Advertising” from 7 June 2022 establishes that, along with natural and sparkling wines, advertising of beer is also allowed. This creates a conflict of norms. In accordance with this, the need to bring the relevant provision of the Law into line with the Law “On Advertising” was emphasized.

Taking into account the importance and relevance of the Law, it was noted at the meeting that the Law will be re-included in the agenda of the next plenary meeting of the Senate after the Legislative Chamber considers these shortcomings.