2026-07-16
Russia’s government has changed the rules for labeling alcoholic beverages, setting up a shift that will move the application of federal special stamps for many imported drinks onto Russian territory.
According to a government resolution published on Russia’s official legal information portal, the revised rules align with earlier amendments to the country’s alcohol law that are due to take effect on September 1, 2025. Those legal changes provide that imported alcoholic beverages must be labeled with federal special stamps inside Russia rather than before entering the country.
Under the current system, based on government decree No. 2348 of December 29, 2020, federal special stamps are generally applied to imported alcohol before it enters Russia. The new amendments change that framework for alcoholic beverages produced in countries outside the Eurasian Economic Union and imported into Russia.
From March 1, 2026, the application of federal special stamps to those products will be carried out in Russia, according to the updated rules. The government resolution cited by AK&M is No. 772, dated May 29, 2025.
The changes also revise the requirements for sites where imported alcohol can be labeled with federal special stamps inside Russia. In addition, they set rules for how imported alcoholic beverages will move from Russia’s state border to those labeling locations.
The broader legal basis for the change comes from amendments to Russia’s law on the regulation of the production and turnover of alcohol and alcohol-containing products, known as law No. 171-FZ of November 22, 1995. Under those amendments, the Russian government was given authority to approve requirements for alcohol-labeling sites and to define how products should be transported from the border to stamping points.
The revised labeling rules themselves will take effect on September 1, 2025, while the operational shift for applying stamps in Russia to alcohol made outside the Eurasian Economic Union is scheduled for March 1, 2026.
For spirits importers and other beverage suppliers selling into Russia, the change could reshape compliance and logistics. Moving stamp application from exporting countries to facilities inside Russia may require new handling procedures after goods cross the border. That could add costs, increase paperwork and create delays for importers of whiskey, rum, tequila and other non-EAEU products, depending on how quickly labeling sites are approved and how efficiently goods move through the new system.
The measure is part of a wider tightening of control over alcohol circulation in Russia. By shifting a key labeling step into domestic territory, authorities gain more direct oversight of imported products before they enter commercial distribution. For foreign producers and their Russian partners, that means planning for a different supply chain timetable as the new deadlines approach.
AK&M said its report was based on company-provided materials.