On July 25, according to the Russian Parliament newspaper, the Russian State Duma passed a package of laws on the regulation of nicotine products (No. 310899-8, No. 310855-8, No. 1123777-7).
The bill provides for the introduction of a licensing system for the production, storage and circulation of tobacco and nicotine-containing products from March 2024. Without a license, the equipment will be confiscated and the company will be fined up to one million rubles. Those involved in large-scale underground production will be sentenced to up to three years in prison or re-education through labor.
From 1 March 2024, the manufacture, storage and supply of cigarettes and nicotine products will only be permitted with a licence. If the license does not exist or has been suspended, the device should be sealed. Retail sales are not subject to licensing requirements. The government plans to track the turnover of tobacco and e-cigarettes through a special monitoring system.
According to the amendments formulated by the government and adopted on July 25, a new article 14.67 on the violation of requirements for the production of tobacco products, tobacco and nicotine-containing products and their raw materials will be added to the Code of Penalties for Administrative Offences.
If the illegal production is not licensed, the fine will be 150,000 to 300,000 rubles for public officials and 300,000 to 1 million rubles for companies. At the same time, manufactured products, equipment, raw materials and semi-finished products will be confiscated, and the company’s operations may be suspended for two to three months.
Individuals who illegally produce or distribute cigarettes and e-cigarettes will face a fine of 30 to 50 thousand rubles. Those who are fulfilling their contractual obligations, such as salesmen selling counterfeit products in stores, will not be punished.
According to the law (Bill No. 310855-8), from next April, criminal responsibility will be introduced for large-scale violations in the field of production and distribution of tobacco and nicotine products, which will result in a fine of 500,000 to 1 million rubles, or a fine equivalent to one to three years of income. They may also be sentenced to three years of forced labor and imprisonment for the same period, as well as the loss of the right to hold certain positions.
In the Code of Criminal Procedure (Bill No. 1123777-7), lawmakers established the physical evidence requirement that tobacco products, e-cigarettes, other similar products and the equipment used to manufacture them seized from the illicit trade should be photographed or videotaped and sealed. This evidence will be retained while the investigators and investigators make a decision to conduct the necessary investigation and will be destroyed at the end of the investigation.
Nikolai Brykin, member of the State Duma’s State Building and Legislation Committee, said:
“Jurisdiction in criminal cases is being clarified according to the district court.”
In accordance with the third law of the Code of Criminal Procedure (No. 1123777-7), deputies stipulated that physical evidence such as tobacco products, e-cigarettes, other similar products and their manufacturing equipment seized from illegal circulation should be photographed or videographic and sealed. They are transferred for storage while the necessary research is carried out, according to the decision of the interrogator and the investigator, and destroyed after the investigation is completed.
Bsultan Kanzayev, member of the Security and Corruption Control Committee, stressed that improving anti-tobacco legislation is a very good trend for protecting citizens’ health.
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