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Sellers of alcohol-containing products to be obliged to keep records of them

Apart from that, it is planned to ban movement of unidentified alcoholic products across Russia

MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Manufacturers and sellers of alcohol-containing preparations will be obliged to declared them and keep records on them, Russian Finance Minister Naton Siluanov told a briefing on Friday.

"It is planned to impose an obligation on manufacturers and sellers of medical substances to declare and keep account of them," he said.

Apart from that, it is planned to ban movement of unidentified alcoholic products across Russia, to impose off-court blocking of websites offering online sales of alcoholic beverages, to ban sales of alcohol containing products via vending machines, and to toughen responsibility for illegal sales of alcohol-containing products to individuals, he added.

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Siberian methanol poisoning death toll rises to 74

Earlier on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to toughen rules of production and sales of alcohol-containing products and to tighten punishment for their violations. Apart from that, he said excise duties are to be reviewed in order to bring down demand for fake alcoholic beverages.

The move followed a tragic incident in Russia’s Siberian Irkutsk region where more than 120 people got poisoned after drinking fake alcohol-containing bath lotion. According to latest reports, 75 people have died. A State of emergency was imposed in the region, with a ban imposed on sales on nonedible alcohol-containing products. The ban will be in place until the inspection of trade outlets is over.

A criminal case was initiated following the incident.

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