European Commission welcomes Czech ban on spirits exports

The European Commission on Friday welcomed the government-imposed ban on exports of spirits with higher than 20 percent volume of alcohol made in response to the methanol crisis. The Czech Health Ministry issued the immediate ban on Thursday night under pressure from the commission which threatened to impose their own ban that could last for up to two months, arguing consumers in other EU countries have the right to the same level of protection against methanol-laced spirits as those in the Czech Republic. Future lifting of the ban will however have to be consulted with the European Commission, a spokesman for the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy said.

Author: Jan Richter