Ministry: allow restaurants to import wine

Restaurants with an alcohol licence should have the right to import their own wine, without having to involve the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly.

The Ministry of Trade has proposed a bill that would authorise the licencing committee to grant restaurants and other businesses the right to import wine with a maximum alcohol content of 15 percent, from 1 January 2019.

According to the ministry, the restaurant industry has repeatedly requested a more varied selection of quality wine for their customers.

Allowing restaurants to negotiate wine prices is also believed to be an advantage for the industry.

This new system is expected to lead to an annual income loss for Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins (the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly) of about DKK 1.5 million over the next few years.

To offset these losses, the government aims to relax its requirements on Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins’ annual profits.

Translated by prosa.fo