Article for moonshine of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Moonshine is illegal? What you need to know about the new law on moonshine in the Russian Federation? What restrictions are in place
At the moment in Russian Federation any actions in relation to alcohol are established by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation FZ N 171 of November 22, 1995 "On state regulation of the production of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products."
Answer to main question appears in the first article. The third paragraph states that home-made alcoholic beverages not for sale, in other words, for personal use, does not fall under this law. Moonshine in and of itself is not a criminal offence. You can absolutely legally buy and store a moonshine still, make and store mash and alcohol-containing drinks at home, use it personally and with your family. It does not matter how high quality and safe such products are.
Responsibility arises in the event of the sale of these products. Moreover, sale is understood not only as a direct sale, but also as a gift, exchange, any paid and free transfer your products to third parties. The recorded and proven sale of alcoholic products already falls under the administrative and criminal legislation of the Russian Federation.
Administrative responsibility for the sale of moonshine
In the case of a proven fact of the sale of home-made alcohol, the moonshiner falls under the provisions of articles 14.1 and 14.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. These articles look at this offense from a different angle and apply different punishments.
Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses draws its attention to illegal business. And if the first part of the article punishes for the absence state registration of the corresponding individual entrepreneur or legal entity, then the second part - for the absence of a license required for the sale of alcohol. In the first case, the fine varies between 500 and 1500 rubles. In the second, already from 2,000 to 2,500 rubles with a possible confiscation of equipment and finished products.
Moreover, the question of how profitable this business is is not worth it. For the investigating authorities, the receipt of income and the amount of profit do not matter.
Also, your actions may fall under Article 14.2. The sale of prohibited or restricted products is subject to a fine. In addition, as an additional punishment, confiscation production equipment and finished alcohol.
AT judicial practice illegal sale of moonshine is most often qualified under article 14.2, less often under the first part of article 14.1. This decision is made by the relevant authorities, depending on the precedents existing in the region. The second part of Article 14.1, according to human rights activists, cannot be used in this situation. In the actions of a citizen (not an individual entrepreneur or a legal entity) there is no subjective side of the offense: as an individual, he cannot obtain a license for his activities.
If your activity is qualified as an administrative offense, the fine in any case will be 500-1500 rubles. In the worst case, confiscation of equipment and products is possible.
Criminal liability
Illegal business
The Criminal Code considers the sale homemade moonshine as illegal business. Violation occurs if such trade without registration as an individual entrepreneur or legal entity or lack of a license (for types of activities subject to licensing) caused major damage or brought in a major income. Depending on the aggravating facts Article 171 Russian Criminal Code determines the following penalties:
- a fine of 300,000 rubles;
- community service up to 480 hours;
- arrest for up to six months.
Despite the severity of the article, it will not be able to touch ordinary moonshiners. The text contains a clause about the presence of damage to third parties (the state) or income on a large scale. In this context, a large amount is considered to be an amount above 2,250,000 rubles. It is unlikely that home-made moonshine can bring such income. More, this article is aimed at a business selling illegal alcohol.
In any case, complaints from neighbors and testimonies of witnesses alone are not enough to start proceedings under this article. A test purchase must be carried out, audio and video materials confirming the offense. Additionally carried out expert review the production capacity of the distillation apparatus in order to establish the possible volumes of alcohol produced and sold.
Security Violation
In the section of crimes against the population and public morality, article 238 is provided. It is aimed at suppressing the transportation, production, storage and sale of products that do not meet safety requirements. This wording is quite applicable to moonshine.
The punishment under this article is quite severe:
- a fine from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles;
- community service for up to 360 hours;
- restriction of freedom for up to 2 years;
- imprisonment for a term of 2 to 6 years.
Separately, it is worth noting the serious consequences in the event of an occurrence lethal outcome consumers of poor quality products. A proven link between the use of moonshine and the death of 2 or more people, both the seller and the manufacturer are threatened with:
- forced labor for up to 5 years;
- imprisonment for up to 10 years.
Until recently, it was impossible to confirm the quality of moonshine. During litigation expert verification of moonshine is carried out according to GOSTs developed for rectified products (alcohols and vodka). It is quite predictable that moonshine, like a distillate, does not meet these requirements. Perhaps the situation will change due to the entry into force of new documents: GOST R 56368-2015 "Russian traditional drinks on natural raw materials" (valid from 01/01/2016) and GOST R 55799-2013 "Grain distillate" (valid from 07/01/2015) . In the first document, such concepts as moonshine, horseradish, honey, spotykach, sbiten are legalized. True, to establish the production of these drinks is an expensive pleasure and only large enterprises can do it.
Conclusion
Despite the initiatives of some deputies and lawmakers, there are currently no laws in Russia prohibiting the production of moonshine at home. It can be done for yourself and for the needs of your family. And you should not sell it, even to acquaintances. The minimum punishment is administrative liability and a fine of 500 rubles. In the event of serious consequences, such a business can turn into a deadline.
Since the beginning of 2018, the government has tightened control over the production of illegal alcoholic beverages. Moonshine also falls under this definition. The quality of this product in Moscow is increasingly questionable. The statistics of alcohol poisoning in different regions of Russia is sometimes simply shocking. And the number of deaths is increasing every year. But does this mean that absolutely all people who drink moonshine should be afraid of a fine for moonshine?
It all depends on volume.
If citizens drive an alcoholic drink exclusively for their own needs in volumes of less than 200 liters, their actions are not an offense. In this case, the penalty for moonshine will not be imposed. But if the production of this product is 200 liters per year or more, that is, 5.5 liters per day, and the fact of sale is proven, such unfortunate entrepreneurs will be fined.
In what volumes to drive moonshine
Important! In order to prove the existence of illegal trade, inspectors will regularly come to moonshiners. They will find out the maximum power of the device, the number finished product. A secret control purchase can also be carried out by the relevant services. According to the results of which, a fine will be charged for the sale of moonshine.
You will also have to pay for the storage of an unregistered moonshine at home and other equipment for the production of alcohol. Units with a capacity of more than 200 liters are subject to mandatory registration.
The amount of fines for the sale of moonshine in 2018 (Article 14.17 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation):
- For the use and storage of unregistered equipment (the capacity of which exceeds 2,000 liters per year) - they can be fined in the amount of 3,000 to 5,000 rubles *. Officials will pay from 20,000 to 50,000 rubles*. Legal entities and private entrepreneurs - from 100,000 to 150,000 rubles *. The maximum fine for home brewing in Russia in 2018 is 300,000 rubles*. All devices for the production of alcohol will be confiscated.
- The same amount will have to be paid for the transportation of moonshine, the total amount of which is more than 10 liters per person.
- An alternative punishment to monetary penalties is community service (up to 480 hours). Malicious violators can even expect arrest for 6 months.
How to register your moonshine still?
This procedure is slow and rather troublesome. To do this, you need to contact the Federal Service for the Regulation of the Alcohol Market, collect all the necessary documents and pay duties.
Registration of moonshine.
Those wishing to engage in moonshine will require the following documents:
- A statement that must indicate what type of equipment and its actual location.
- Copies technical passports for each type of equipment. The documents must contain serial numbers. This information will help identify the equipment.
- Documents confirming the right to own this device.
Important! The registration process will take some time. To obtain a license, a person will have to register as a legal entity or a private entrepreneur. Until all the formalities are settled, the moonshine will either be confiscated or mothballed in compliance with the official procedure.
The new law will help bring order to the alcohol market and protect consumers from low-quality products. But whether it will be effective, time will tell.
*Fine rates are current as of July 2018.
Fighting moonshine in Russia is not easy. And in general, alcohol abuse is one of the biggest problems in our country. Statistics recent years says that people in Russia began to drink less, but still the Government is not going to loosen control over the circulation of alcohol-containing products. Year after year, anti-alcohol campaigns are aimed at reducing the production of strong drinks, reducing their imports and adopting a tougher article on home brewing.
Legal regulation
As the experience of past years shows, it is impossible to simply take and refuse alcohol-containing products, it is impossible to ban them on supermarket shelves. If you limit the amount of alcoholic products at licensed sales points, the volumes of alcohol of alternative, or rather illegal, production will increase.
Is there an article for moonshine? Many people are interested in this issue. To date, there is no specific legal norm that would regulate this particular industry. As such, there is no law on moonshine in Russia. There are several regulations that contain provisions regulating this area of activity, but at the same time affect other issues of the alcohol sphere.
The history of the fight against moonshiners
The authorities have always tried to take control of moonshining at home, but not a single attempt has led to radical changes. In the middle of the last century, the production of alcoholic beverages at home was punishable by a fine of 100 rubles. Moonshiners were necessarily involved in public works, but later the punishment became even tougher. Practice knows many cases when a person was sent to prison for 2-7 years for the sale of moonshine and all his property was confiscated in favor of the state.
Because of the rampant drunkenness of workers, production stopped, and collective farms did not develop. Deficiency of abstainer work force forced the authorities to abandon strict control measures.
The next rise in home-brewing came in 1985. The so-called dry law, signed by Gorbachev, involved cutting down vineyards in order to reduce the production of wine and vodka products. However, then the Soviet authorities came to the conclusion that it was impossible to fight moonshiners. The course was changed: not to ban moonshine, but to impose restrictions on the volume of home production and the purpose of such products.
1995 legislation
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the first amendments were made to laws that were supposed to tighten the responsibility for moonshine in Russia. We are talking about 171-FZ "On state regulation of the production and circulation of ethyl alcohol" and article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Innovations were supposed to help in solving two issues: to stop the illegal circulation of alcohol made by artisanal methods, and to return the source of replenishment of the state budget with excise taxes. In addition, low-quality alcohol not only undermined the health of the population, but also led to mass tragedies. Thousands of people died due to poisoning with alcohol-containing surrogates.
How is it today
At the moment, the issue of home moonshine is regulated by the above federal law. It does not contain a specific article for moonshine, but it mentions the possibility of acquiring a special device that is freely available. The production capacity of home "mini-distilleries" should not exceed 200 decaliters per year, which equates to 2000 liters. Thus, the specified volume is within the law. No responsibility for home-made and consumption of moonshine in such quantities is provided.
Is more than normal a violation?
What punishment for moonshining awaits a citizen who has exceeded this norm depends on many factors. The most important thing to understand is that you can make moonshine at home, but only on a device that is technically not capable of producing more than 5.5 liters per day. If the device is equipped with more powerful indicators, it must be registered and licensed with the Federal Service for Regulation of the Alcohol Market. To obtain a permit for the production of more than 2000 liters of alcohol-containing products per year, it is necessary to prepare a package of documents, open it in a tax IP or register entity, because the individuals in principle, they have no right to engage in the sale of moonshine, especially on an industrial scale. But these are not all the requirements: you will have to find an appropriate room for the production workshop, pass a fire safety check, sanitary standards, etc.
This bureaucratic procedure will take a lot of time, money and effort. Does it make sense for the average moonshiner to bother with registration? Otherwise, if you go against the law, if a moonshine still with a capacity of more than 200 decaliters is found, the device will be confiscated, and the owner will be issued a large fine.
The amount of the fine for moonshine still
If you adhere to the permitted norm and do not sell products even to friends or best friends, there is no penalty for moonshine. But if during the inspection an unregistered device capable of producing more than 200 decalitres per year is found in an individual, he will be brought to administrative responsibility and a fine of 3,000 to 5,000 rubles will be imposed. This type of punishment is provided for in Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. At the same time, for official the amount will be from 20 thousand to 50 thousand rubles, and for a legal one - more than 100 thousand rubles.
At the same time, if an individual with a license is engaged in the illegal production of alcoholic products, a larger fine is imposed - 30-50 thousand rubles. Individual entrepreneurs will have to pay 100-200 thousand rubles for the unauthorized sale of ethyl alcohol. In case of repeated violations, law enforcement agencies have the right to initiate a criminal case.
By the way, a fine can also be imposed on persons moving more than 10 liters of home-made alcoholic beverages per person, for example, in the trunk of a personal car.
Can they go to jail for moonshine
Which article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for punishment for the illegal production of alcohol? Usually, articles 174, 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation apply to persistent violators. In the first case, the washing Money, and the second - illegal entrepreneurship, which causes damage to the state or citizens, damage on a large and especially large scale. If the turnover of trade did not exceed 2.5 million rubles, the citizen is fined from 300 to 500 thousand rubles. In the presence of aggravating circumstances, the perpetrator faces from 6 months to 5 years in prison.
Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is sometimes applied to illegal moonshiners, which provides for punishment for the sale of low-quality products in the form of a large fine or two years in prison. Imprisonment for up to 10 years threatens a person who produced a surrogate and poisoned people to death.
Illegal sale of alcohol
This rule can be directly attributed to the regulation of home brewing. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains Article 171.4, which provides for punishment not for the manufacture, but for the illegal sale of alcohol-containing products. It would be wrong to consider this norm as an article for home brewing, and responsibility solely for the sale. That is, you can produce alcohol for yourself in acceptable quantities (no more than 200 decalitres per year), of different quality and type, and it is not forbidden to use it in any volume. Here everyone is limited by their measures of drinking alcohol and the state of health. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not establish any limits when it comes to home production and self-use.
Article 171.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation applies to persons who produce moonshine for sale. And it doesn’t matter at all, once a citizen sold a bottle of strong drink to his neighbor, or the sale of moonshine is a source of constant income for him. Usually, district police officers learn about the point of illegal sale of alcohol from neighbors, who now and then come out from an enterprising neighbor with a bottle. Sometimes the sale of unlicensed alcohol is carried out by prior agreement in inconspicuous outlets (kiosks, stalls, grocery stores).
How to distinguish an administrative offense from a criminal offense?
The definition of punishment and article for home brewing depends on the amount of illegal profit received. If the income from illegal activities is estimated at more than one and a half million rubles, a criminal case is initiated, but if the profit does not exceed 1.5 million rubles. the rules of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation apply.
At the same time, it is important for law enforcement officers to distinguish between moonshining and the sale of home-made alcohol from a large-scale underground workshop for the manufacture of counterfeit goods and surrogates. These two crimes can be distinguished by the following features:
- illegal production and distribution of alcoholic products;
- large volumes of alcohol-containing goods sold;
- evasion of excise duty and registration of a license to conduct entrepreneurial activity;
- the desire to falsify alcoholic beverages of well-known trademarks pass moonshine for branded alcoholic drinks.
In this case, the violator is brought to criminal responsibility and deservedly receives a more severe punishment.
Foreign practice
Worth paying attention to next nuance: in our country, not only asocial citizens or underground businessmen, as was commonly believed before, are engaged in moonshining, but also quite prosperous segments of the population. Some produce home-made alcohol for their own needs, others make moonshine as a hobby, and someone fundamentally does not want to buy vodka in a store, as they are dissatisfied with its quality or price.
It is interesting that even in Europe there are analogues of Russian moonshine: for example, Balkan brandy, Serbian slivovitz, German schnapps and much more. In many countries moonshining is a legal occupation. For example, to make moonshine in Austria, you must first pay excise duty. The citizen will be given the necessary device with a built-in counter. Moreover, in this case, alcohol can even be sold, and subsequently tax is paid on the proceeds. The Germans simplified the licensing procedure, allowing those who wish to come with their brew to specialized distilleries. Thus, it is more profitable for the state not to prohibit, but to competently control the process of production of alcohol-containing products.
Substitute alcohol poisoning
If you believe the information of Rosstat, then several thousand people die every year due to alcohol poisoning in Russia. Moreover, a common cause is the use of liquids that contain alcohol, but are not intended for drinking.
Unscrupulous manufacturers sometimes add methyl alcohol to the product instead of ethanol - a toxic substance that does not differ in smell and taste from ethyl alcohol, but costs several times cheaper. Methanol, unlike ethanol, is much more dangerous: it is enough to drink 100-150 ml of such alcohol in its pure form to get poisoned and die.
The use of counterfeit alcohol often leads to severe poisoning, blindness and even death. The reason for this is often not moonshine, but the use of substances containing alcohol, but not intended for drinking (colognes, antifreeze, formic alcohol, etc.). For example, in December 2016 in Irkutsk, several dozen people were poisoned with Hawthorn, a concentrate intended for taking baths, as a result of which a criminal case was initiated. That is why the state is wary of the unauthorized production and sale of alcohol.
The biggest case
The incident happened in Pärnu (Estonia) in 2001. This case is considered the most massive in terms of the number of victims of poisoning. surrogate alcohol. Shortly before the emergency, the workers of the local plant carried out 20 cans of methyl alcohol from the shops, thinking that they contained ethanol. Pouring liquid into vodka bottles and sticking trademark labels on them, they sold counterfeit alcohol at a low price. The sale of counterfeit products has resulted in the death of nearly 70 people and the disability of another 50.
Conclusion
Is moonshine allowed in Russia? There is no official ban on home-made alcohol-containing liquid for your own needs. However, those who make moonshine should always be prepared for a police check, which usually comes on a tip from "friendly" and vigilant neighbors. In addition, moonshine is strongly recommended in strict accordance with the law.
Almost everyone who is carried away by the process of moonshine sooner or later begins to wonder if there is and what kind of punishment for the sale. And this is right: even if you yourself are not involved in sales, in the Russian Federation you always need to be prepared for the fact that they will try to attract you and fine you on any basis.
Codes and federal laws contain on their pages an innumerable number of articles, according to which, if desired, it is possible to attract not only home distillers, but also anyone who purchases and consumes alcohol at all. But if we discard the sentiments and turn to the facts, then they are as follows: the punishment for moonshine in Russia exists, but not for everyone.
Law No. 171-FZ
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the federal law №171, legal basis Fundamentals for the Protection of the Public from Counterfeit and Substandard Alcohol, clearly states that individuals who make alcohol of any strength “not for the purpose of sale” cannot be held liable. That is, if you produce moonshine at home, even if it does not meet the requirements of current standards, you are not threatened with an article for moonshine. In 2015, additions were made to this law, but they did not affect private distilleries.
If any representative of the authorities decides to visit your home or your other real estate (with your permission, of course) and finds, and even bottles of ready-made moonshine with price tags, he has no right to do anything. The testimony of witnesses and the collective complaints of neighbors will not help. There is no article for moonshining as such, and not for sale or another distribution option, in this law.
The classic Soviet comedy film Moonshiners satirized the hapless "entrepreneurs" who were involved in the illegal production of alcohol. Needless to say, in the USSR for moonshine you could get a serious sentence. Many will be surprised, however, in the modern administrative and criminal legislation of our country, responsibility is also established, but not for the production, but for the sale of home-made alcohol. Moonshining is considered an offense or a crime, depending on the extent of the illegal activity, only if it is accompanied by the implementation.
Is there a criminal penalty for the distillation of moonshine
The law provides for punishment under paragraph 1 of Article 271 of the Criminal Code for the illegal sale of alcohol. As a matter of fact, this is not the responsibility for moonshine. For yourself, you can produce any amount of homemade alcohol of any quality, as well as consume this drink in any quantities. Here you are limited not by the articles of the Criminal Code, but only by your own ideas about the norms of drinking.
Moreover, moonshine is still a popular hobby, especially among the rural population. moonshine stills purchased via the Internet, made in a handicraft way. There is only one punishment in this case: a hangover. Responsibility for moonshine comes:
- if moonshine is produced for sale. It doesn’t matter at all whether the realization is under the counter, for example, fellow villagers know that you always “have” and come to buy a bottle, or through outlets by prior agreement with the owner or seller;
- if the strong drink is sold in especially large sizes. The scale of activities such as home brewing is estimated in national currency: income should be over 1.5 million rubles.
It is the amount of 1.5 million that is the division between administrative and criminal liability. Moonshine and the illegal sale of alcohol will fall under the severe punishment of Article 171 precisely after overcoming this threshold. Paragraph 1 of article 171 provides for the following punishment for moonshine (and the sale of homemade or handicraft alcohol):
- fine. The size of the fine for home brewing can reach 300 thousand rubles or the 2-year average income of an unlucky manufacturer of strong drink;
- another punishment that the article provides for moonshine is corrective labor, which can last a considerable amount of time - up to 480 hours;
- an even more severe punishment is imprisonment for up to six months.