Finland Times

 

Lithuanian Ministry of Economy presented on Monday measures to restrict alcohol access in the country.  

 

     The set of measures was presented in a closed governmental meeting.

 

     According to Evaldas Gustas, Lithuania's minister of economy, the parliament's committee of health affairs asked the government to prepare the basic principles for limiting access of alcohol, due to concerns over alcohol abuse in the Baltic country.

 

     "We collected and summarized the information, presented it to the government and will present it later to the parliamentary committee, in order to provide the lawmakers with the main guidelines for future legislation," Gustas told reporters after the meeting, local website vz.lt reported.

 

     A total ban of outdoor alcohol advertizing is one of the measures, proposed by the government last summer. However, it is anticipated to introduce new measures over a few upcoming years, such as gradual increase of excise taxes for alcohol and, therefore, increasing prices of alcoholic beverages, limiting number of places selling alcohol, as well as more rigorous alcohol selling time restrictions.

 

     The government expects that Lithuanian parliament will adopt new measures restricting access to alcohol during its session this spring.

 

     Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite earlier also called for more effective measures aimed at decreasing use of alcohol.

 

     Starting from this January, selling alcohol is banned in petrol stations in Lithuania. As from November this year, special marking about alcohol's harm to pregnant woman will be obligatory in the country.

 

     Proposing the new measures, Lithuanian government reacted to a few recent fatal crimes in the country committed by persons under severe influence of alcohol.