Post by jeffolie on Sept 16, 2012 16:20:28 GMT -6
I have never tasted bootleg, moonshine liquor. Czech bootleg with methanol kills in a country that consumes upto 20% of it liquor as bootleg:
"... bootlegging, which they say accounts for between 10% and 20% of alcohol sales on the local market ... Czech Republic continued Sunday to enforce a total ban on hard-liquor sales, as deaths and injuries from consuming methanol-laced bootleg alcohol kept rising and as Poland prohibited sales of all spirits imported from its southern neighbor ... Production and distribution of illegal alcohol is only a misdemeanor in the Czech Republic and only those convicted of peddling toxic alcohol may face criminal prosecution with prison sentences of up to 10 years
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Czech Republic continued Sunday to enforce a total ban on hard-liquor sales, as deaths and injuries from consuming methanol-laced bootleg alcohol kept rising and as Poland prohibited sales of all spirits imported from its southern neighbor.
The Czech ban on hard-liquor sales, which began late Friday, is the first blanket ban on spirits in the country and the region, where drinking alcohol is common and regulations on alcohol sales traditionally have been fairly lax. By Sunday, the Czech health ministry reported 20 deaths and 36 people in critical condition, since the crisis outbreak in early September, and up from 19 and 27, respectively, before the blanket ban on liquor sales limited alcohol available in shops, bars and restaurants to just beer and wine.
"No easing of this ban can be even discussed yet, but we hope it won't last for months," Czech Health Minister Leos Heger said during a live Sunday television news show on the Czech CT24 channel.
Sunday, Poland launched a 30-day ban on sales of liquor imported from the Czech Republic, the country's sanitary inspectorate and health ministry said, adding that during the ban authorities will make extensive tests of Czech alcohol to ensure it is safe for consumption.
Czech authorities escalated their measures after methanol-laced legitimate-looking bottles started appearing in regular liquor stores across several Czech regions, including Prague. This followed the initially confirmed sales of toxic alcohol at outdoor markets and kiosks in the country's northeast that have led to first intoxication cases earlier in the month. Czech authorities had previously banned liquor sales at these venues.
Mr. Heger didn't say how long the blanket ban could last but admitted the government was concerned about possible drops in collections of taxes, levied on legitimate alcohol, if the prohibition dragged on.
"There could be consequences for our budget consolidation efforts, but the health situation is the most critical issue now," Mr. Heger said.
Monthly tax revenues, including alcohol and sales levies, from liquor sales run at about 750 million koruna ($40.4 million), Deputy Finance Minister Ladislav Mincic said.
The overall Czech spirits market is valued at around 20 billion koruna a year in sales, including five billion koruna in sales of imported brands, said Tomas Otta, the general director of Global Spirits s.r.o., a Prague importer of brands, including the Scotch whisky Johnnie Walker whisky of Diageo PLC (DEO, DGE.LN).
"The impact on the market will all depend on how the ban will last," Mr. Otta said, adding the monthly revenue for Global Spirits on Diageo brands in the Czech Republic runs at around 45 million koruna.
Mr. Otta estimated the overall annual Czech spirits production of distilled alcohol at 72 million liters, including five million liters of legitimate home brewing of fruit liquors.
"The black [bootleg] market is additional 7-9 million liters a year, which represents about 1.2 billion koruna," Mr. Otta said.
So far, Czech investigators have failed to find any distillery of the methanol-laced alcohol but have arrested and charged 22 individuals, involved in bottling and distribution of at least partly toxic bootleg liquors, said Vaclav Kucera, the deputy president of Czech Police.
"We're questioning additional 30 people and we hope to be able to move up the chain to pinpoint soon the source of this," Mr. Kucera said.
Since the outbreak of the methanol crisis some government and industry officials have called for heightening regulations to uproot bootlegging, which they say accounts for between 10% and 20% of alcohol sales on the local market.
Bootleg alcohol is most often distributed here as a legitimate kind to unsuspecting buyers, police and government officials say.
Alcohol industry officials, including Mr. Otta, want the government to toughen regulations on spirits sales, including the requirement for all liquor stores to use digital cash registers to enable proper sales monitoring for tax officials.
Some government officials also say the punishment for bootleggers need to get tougher.
Production and distribution of illegal alcohol is only a misdemeanor in the Czech Republic and only those convicted of peddling toxic alcohol may face criminal prosecution with prison sentences of up to 10 years.
"It'd be appropriate to do something about making [bootlegging] a crime," Mr. Mincic said.
--Patryk Wasilewski in Warsaw contributed to this article.
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120916-700862.html
"... bootlegging, which they say accounts for between 10% and 20% of alcohol sales on the local market ... Czech Republic continued Sunday to enforce a total ban on hard-liquor sales, as deaths and injuries from consuming methanol-laced bootleg alcohol kept rising and as Poland prohibited sales of all spirits imported from its southern neighbor ... Production and distribution of illegal alcohol is only a misdemeanor in the Czech Republic and only those convicted of peddling toxic alcohol may face criminal prosecution with prison sentences of up to 10 years
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Czech Republic continued Sunday to enforce a total ban on hard-liquor sales, as deaths and injuries from consuming methanol-laced bootleg alcohol kept rising and as Poland prohibited sales of all spirits imported from its southern neighbor.
The Czech ban on hard-liquor sales, which began late Friday, is the first blanket ban on spirits in the country and the region, where drinking alcohol is common and regulations on alcohol sales traditionally have been fairly lax. By Sunday, the Czech health ministry reported 20 deaths and 36 people in critical condition, since the crisis outbreak in early September, and up from 19 and 27, respectively, before the blanket ban on liquor sales limited alcohol available in shops, bars and restaurants to just beer and wine.
"No easing of this ban can be even discussed yet, but we hope it won't last for months," Czech Health Minister Leos Heger said during a live Sunday television news show on the Czech CT24 channel.
Sunday, Poland launched a 30-day ban on sales of liquor imported from the Czech Republic, the country's sanitary inspectorate and health ministry said, adding that during the ban authorities will make extensive tests of Czech alcohol to ensure it is safe for consumption.
Czech authorities escalated their measures after methanol-laced legitimate-looking bottles started appearing in regular liquor stores across several Czech regions, including Prague. This followed the initially confirmed sales of toxic alcohol at outdoor markets and kiosks in the country's northeast that have led to first intoxication cases earlier in the month. Czech authorities had previously banned liquor sales at these venues.
Mr. Heger didn't say how long the blanket ban could last but admitted the government was concerned about possible drops in collections of taxes, levied on legitimate alcohol, if the prohibition dragged on.
"There could be consequences for our budget consolidation efforts, but the health situation is the most critical issue now," Mr. Heger said.
Monthly tax revenues, including alcohol and sales levies, from liquor sales run at about 750 million koruna ($40.4 million), Deputy Finance Minister Ladislav Mincic said.
The overall Czech spirits market is valued at around 20 billion koruna a year in sales, including five billion koruna in sales of imported brands, said Tomas Otta, the general director of Global Spirits s.r.o., a Prague importer of brands, including the Scotch whisky Johnnie Walker whisky of Diageo PLC (DEO, DGE.LN).
"The impact on the market will all depend on how the ban will last," Mr. Otta said, adding the monthly revenue for Global Spirits on Diageo brands in the Czech Republic runs at around 45 million koruna.
Mr. Otta estimated the overall annual Czech spirits production of distilled alcohol at 72 million liters, including five million liters of legitimate home brewing of fruit liquors.
"The black [bootleg] market is additional 7-9 million liters a year, which represents about 1.2 billion koruna," Mr. Otta said.
So far, Czech investigators have failed to find any distillery of the methanol-laced alcohol but have arrested and charged 22 individuals, involved in bottling and distribution of at least partly toxic bootleg liquors, said Vaclav Kucera, the deputy president of Czech Police.
"We're questioning additional 30 people and we hope to be able to move up the chain to pinpoint soon the source of this," Mr. Kucera said.
Since the outbreak of the methanol crisis some government and industry officials have called for heightening regulations to uproot bootlegging, which they say accounts for between 10% and 20% of alcohol sales on the local market.
Bootleg alcohol is most often distributed here as a legitimate kind to unsuspecting buyers, police and government officials say.
Alcohol industry officials, including Mr. Otta, want the government to toughen regulations on spirits sales, including the requirement for all liquor stores to use digital cash registers to enable proper sales monitoring for tax officials.
Some government officials also say the punishment for bootleggers need to get tougher.
Production and distribution of illegal alcohol is only a misdemeanor in the Czech Republic and only those convicted of peddling toxic alcohol may face criminal prosecution with prison sentences of up to 10 years.
"It'd be appropriate to do something about making [bootlegging] a crime," Mr. Mincic said.
--Patryk Wasilewski in Warsaw contributed to this article.
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120916-700862.html