Up to now, while alcohol can be sold online, a bricks-and-mortar store must be present. This has led to the emergence of "phantom" stores, effectively warehouses open only for a limited period of time during the day, in order to qualify for making online sales.

The bill would also provide options to Estonia's e-residents to operate more freely in the alcohol trade, the bill states.

The bill's stated aim is to encourage regional entrepreneurship and help local alcohol producers market their goods directly to consumers, and to modernize and reduce bureaucracy.

The bill's explanatory memorandum states: "Nowadays the requirement for a physical shop has proved unreasonable and ineffective, especially for Estonia's own small businesses and producers, who lack the opportunity to compete with large retail chains and for whom e-commerce and public events are often the only realistic marketing channels."

Additionally, smaller producers may not be able to afford to maintain a physical shop in order to enable e-commerce, the bill states.

A physical store may not be able to reach consumers nationwide, it adds.
The explanatory memorandum states the legislative amendment will support regional entrepreneurship and will have a positive effect on all entrepreneurs, including companies engaged in export and those registered in Estonia by e-residents who have shown interest specifically in online sales.

Local and small entrepreneurs will also now be able to market their products directly to consumers more easily, the bill states.

Restrictions will still be in place on sales, including the ability of local governments to have the authority to impose restrictions on where alcohol may and may not be sold.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs prepared the bill, which among other things will amend the Alcohol Act.

Up to now, the Alcohol Act had obliged a company engaged in retail alcohol e-commerce to maintain a physical shop or catering business.

The bill also points out that, in order to formally comply with the current restriction, businesspeople have opened small shops in warehouses with very limited opening hours, which do not actually serve a commercial purpose but merely allow goods to be legally sold via e-commerce as a workaround to the current legislation.

The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) would no longer have to inspect such "phantom" stores, lightening their burden, the bill states.

A growth in alcohol sales via e-commerce can be expected with the bill's entry into force, but this, the ministry states, should not be "significant."

Requirement to have physical cash register to go under bill

The law will also abolish the requirement to have a cash register for the sale of alcohol to record transactions. The retail sale of alcoholic beverages in shops and catering businesses will be permitted if all retail transactions of drinks are recorded with an accurate time record.

"As of now, various technological solutions have developed, and entrepreneurs can use a variety of electronic solutions to record sales, which are not tied to the existence of a cash register," the explanatory memorandum states.

As for the legal age limit for buying alcohol, the bill states that this must be verified either by the data of an identity document or by an e-identification system, unless the purchaser is "obviously" of legal age, in which case it would not be necessary to establish their age.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications is awaiting feedback from stakeholders on the planned amendments.

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