Ukraine’s government will battle the counterfeit alcohol market with a new technology.
On May 1, the Cabinet of Ministers will roll out electronic excise stamps to push back against trade in counterfeit spirits, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk announced late on Feb. 12.
The government aims to fight endemic tax evasion in the alcohol market, create a level playing field for businesses in the industry, and, generally, reduce the amount of counterfeit spirits in Ukraine.
“We want to track all the goods that are subjected to excise duty so that we know how much is produced, consumed and being paid in taxes,” Honcharuk said.
Producers and distributors will have an online account with which to obtain, check and pay excise duties.
Over time, the government wants to eliminate all the paper documents related to excise taxes.
The stamps themselves will contain barcodes and QR codes. The former will allow supermarket cashiers to automatically check the quality of the product when they scan it. Meanwhile, the QR codes will direct people to information about the product online.
Cabinet Minister Dmytro Dubilet believes this is an efficient system, as it does not require developing any special equipment or introducing separate tech systems.
It will also reduce the share of counterfeit alcoholic drinks, which now account for 50% of the market and cost the state budget up to $410 million a year, Dubilet wrote on Facebook.
Additionally, illegally imported alcoholic beverages were valued at $6.3 million in 2019, according to the Cabinet of Ministers. In January 2020 alone, the State Fiscal Service reported over 400 import violations.
Both Honcharuk and Dubilet say that the electronic excise stamp system will work on a modular principle, meaning that the stamps’ functionality can expand in the future.
