Wine Law

492 WINE LAW Its main merits are the low production cost compared to the domestic wines and the weak control in its distribution 33 . During the last decade, the state of affairs in Russia clearly indicated a gradual decrease of the wine production or, at least, a general stagnation 34 . A new legislative attempt was undertaken by Duma members in July 2017, being the first Bill to have a real chance of success, passing two readings, in one year, but failing the third and final one, in October 2019 35 . It did not sufficiently protect the viticulture and winemaking sector of the national economy and the domestic producers and did not arrange the issue of establishing such a sector, which was considered as non-existent 36 . Technically, it was also necessary to take into account some recent modifications in the tax legislation, reducing the VAT to 10% on grapes and reforming the excise taxes in the wine industry 37 . Furthermore, the Bill had to be fully in line with Presidential Executive Order No. 204 of 7 May 2018, “On national goals and strategic objectives of the Russian Federation through to 2024” 38 . A priority national project (programme), the International Cooperation and Exports, was already set up in pursuance of this Executive Order, and the new law on the viticulture and winemaking was to become one of the measures for its implementation. The law was intended to create from scratch the national viticulture and winemaking legal regulation and become the basis for this industry 39 . Once the legislative gear was put in motion, it was already unstoppable. Some days after the failure of the 2017 Bill, a new one was formally filed and, in the next month, it passed its first reading, being apparent the focus on adjusting, rather than drafting, dispositions. Followed smoothly in December the second and third readings consecutively. In the next phase, the Bill was swiftly approved by the Federation Council 40 , and finally, on 27 December 2019, the text was 33 The storage in casks is the classic one, but the high sophistication of the flex-tank technology of transportation, as of 2005, changed the world wine market radically, permitting the circulation of huge quantities of wine without risks of maderisation; available in https://swn.ru/articles/chto-takoe- vinomaterial. 34 Sources: https://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2016/10/25/662247-proizvodstvo-vina-rossii an d https://kiozk.ru/article/ekspert/zabudte-slovo-vinomaterialy. 35 Source : https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/226612-7. 36 Source : https://www.interfax.ru/russia/684756. 37 Source : https://www.interfax.ru/business/680624. 38 Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/57425; This Presidential Executive Order (ukaz) is part of a complex of Decrees, the-so called “Executive Orders of May”, having the value of an action plan for each Presidential Mandate, issued first in May 2012 and additionally modified by the Decree in question, in May 2018. 39 Source : http://duma.gov.ru/news/47355/. 40 The Federation Council is the Parliament’s upper chamber and represents in the legislature all 85 administrative regions of the Russian Federation (the federal subjects).