Reporting by producers, wholesalers and importers
Producers, wholesalers and importers of alcoholic beverages and spirits are obligated to report the amounts of alcohol they have produced, sold and/or imported to the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) and register products in Valvira's product register before their placement on the market.
The reporting obligation also applies to licence holders that have not yet started operations. All information related to the operations of Valvira's licence holders must be reported using the e-service of the alcohol trade register (Allu).
Submit reports or product notifications in the e-service of the alcohol trade register (Allu).
The reported information will be used in the supervision of producers, wholesalers, serving licence holders and retailers by Valvira and the Regional State Administrative Agencies. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) will use the information collected by Valvira to compile national alcohol statistics.
Producers and importers of products (alcoholic beverages and spirits) are obligated to register the products they produce or import in Valvira’s product register before their placement on the market. In addition, any changes in products and the discontinued sale of products must be entered in Valvira’s register.
An initial supervisory analysis certificate must be provided for Valvira regarding new domestic alcoholic beverages and new alcoholic beverages imported from third countries. The content requirements for the certificate vary according to the product origin and product group. A product must also be re-analysed if its composition changes significantly.
The provider of the initial supervisory certificate must be a laboratory that uses accredited analysis methods for alcoholic beverages. The certificate must be provided in an easily understandable language of a Union country. The certificate must clearly indicate the beverage to which it is connected. Other certificates, including a product specification or certificate provided by a beverage producer or other product description, are not accepted as initial supervisory certificates. No initial supervisory certificate is required for spirits.
Product notifications are submitted in the e-services of the alcohol trade register.
The kegging or bottling notification is licence-specific. Each production location of a company has a separate licence. The kegging or bottling notification must be submitted separately for each location of the producer by product every four months by the 15th day of the month following the reporting period. The reporting periods are 01 January–April, 02 May–August, and 03 September–December.
Kegging or bottling notifications are submitted in the e-services of the alcohol trade register.
Delivery notifications must be submitted to Valvira by the 15th day of each month. The notification is used to report the previous month’s sales. In other words, sales in May must be reported by the 15th of June. Even if a licence holder did not have any activities during the month in question, it must still submit the delivery notification as a zero notification.
Delivery notifications are submitted in the e-services or through the REST API intended for larger operators. The notification must be in accordance with Valvira’s record description. Valvira may issue a 15% supervision fee discount for operators that submit their delivery information in electronic format and comply with the given deadline (however, the supervision fee is always at least the basic fee of EUR 250).
Companies must register in Valvira’s control system for organic production if they produce, import or store organic alcohol. In the case of organic alcoholic beverages imported from third countries, the importer must always submit a batch-specific notification to Valvira at the latest when the inspection certificate for the next batch is submitted to Finnish Customs.