Ban on sale of tonic drinks to children under 18 in the PMR

Deputies of the Committee on Legislation, Protection of Citizens' Rights and Freedoms Galina Antyufeeva and Grigory Dyachenko initiated a draft of a new law "On the ban on the sale of non-alcoholic tonic drinks (including energy drinks) to minors". The law-in-draft was reviewed by deputies of the Committee on Social Policy and Healthcare at their meeting. They said that regulations were previously adopted prohibiting smoking on school grounds. Law was adopted banning the sale of vapes to minors in the summer. Cigarettes and alcoholic beverages cannot be sold to persons under 18.

It is proposed at present to restrict children from "energy drinks". The Pridnestrovian legislation does not restrict the sale of non-alcoholic energy drinks to minors, including energy drinks currently. The authors of the law-in-draft note that such drinks contain tonic components: caffeine, taurine, L-carnitine, glucuronolactone. One can of energy drink contains from 150 to 320 mg of caffeine, and the daily consumption rate is approximately 150 milligrams. This may negatively affect their health considering that there are currently no restrictions on the sale of "energy drinks" to minors.

The deputies of the relevant committee spoke in favor of adopting the law-in-draft of their colleagues. The deputy corps will consider the initiative at one of the plenary sessions of the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic in the first reading. Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses will also be considered, providing for the introduction of fines for the sale of "energy drinks" to minors. The violators will face a fine of up to 40 minimum wage (up to 736 rubles), and for officials, individual entrepreneurs and legal entities the maximum fine will be 2-3 times higher if the proposed measures are adopted.