However, the government is preparing for it in advance. At a meeting on June 24, the Cabinet of Ministers has already approved the relevant amendments to this section. The document will be sent to the parliament for voting.
The amendments will affect, in particular, the general excise duty regime, as well as the norms applied to certain excise goods, such as alcohol and tobacco products.
Thus, for small producers of beer, wine, fermented beverages other than beer and wine, as well as small ethyl alcohol production enterprises, the excise duty rate will be reduced from the moment of Moldova’s accession to the EU. The benefit implies almost a double reduction (by 45%) compared to the standard rate that large and medium-sized producers will pay. But to benefit from it, small producers must fit within the quantitative restrictions.
The authors of the amendments note that the harmonization of excises in Moldova is expected to be partial. Thus, excise duties on alcohol will reach the minimum level established in the EU, except for the excise duty on apple and pear cider. At the moment they are higher than the minimum. The rates on oil products and energy resources are also expected to reach the minimum level set in the EU. Excise rates on tobacco products have not yet reached the minimum level. But the rates are raised every year, taking into account the economic situation, purchasing power of the population and such factor as smuggling.
New excise duty exemptions are being introduced, applicable in situations of natural or accidental loss of products subject to excise duty.
The project provides for digitalization of the procedure: electronic document flow, real-time monitoring of excise goods movement, etc. For companies producing or trading in excise goods, the new system offers standardized procedures for obtaining permits, online reporting, and the elimination of physical filling out of documents.
