Regulation for agriculture, sugar, and tobacco DOMESTIC SHARE ON RISE

NEW introduced to parLEGISLATION liament last week by the governing AK Party proposes changes to the Monopoly of Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages. According to the proposal, those who sell alcoholic beverages in vending machines, gaming machines, or those who serve alcoholic beverages for games and gambling, as well as those who sell alcohol through the press and broadcasting or by mail will be fined between TRY 20,000 to TRY 100,000. Also, those who don’t abide by the rule of the ban on alcohol sales between 22:00 and 06:00 will receive an administrative fine btween TRY 65,000 and TRY 320,000.

The proposed regulation will also give the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry investigative authority on legal and real entities who manufacture, market and sell goods or services in the sugar market. During the ministry’s study, investigation, and audits, if the entities under investigation provide erroneous, incomplete, or misleading information on the requested matter, or do not allow on-site inspection and audits, they will be given an administrative fine up to three percent of the amount of A quota allocated for the current marketing year, which will be calculated over the country average of the A quota sales price at the beginning of the current marketing year.

The regulation also rules that 30 percent of the total tobacco that tobacco manufacturers produce in a calendar year to supply the domestic market and use in imported cigarettes, hookah tobacco products, Roddchopped

tobacco products, and pipes must be domestically-produced tobacco.

Those who establish or operate rolling paper or cigarette filter factories without the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s approval will receive an administrative fine from TRY 5,000 to TRY 10,000 and a prison sentence from 1 to 3 years.

With the changes made to the Law on Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Food, and Feed, adulterated and imitation products will be banned from processing, and they will not be allowed to supply the market. Misleading broadcasting regarding food safety and reliability will be forbidden. Food products that pose a danger to the public will be withdrawn from the market by the individuals responsible. Food establishments that produce, import, or market under its name or commercial title will receive a prison sentence from 1 to 5 years and an administrative fine from 1,000 days to 5,000 days. If the offense is repeated within 3 years, the food establishment that produces, imports, and markets it under its name or commercial title will be banned from the food sector for 5 to 10 years.

According to the regulation, imitation or adulterated food or feed will be seized and these products will be withdrawn from the market by their producers at their own expense. The products that cannot be used for marketing will be destroyed by the operator under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The ministry will later decide if the ownership of these products should be allocated to the public or not.