Alcohol
The purpose of the Alcohol Act is to prevent detrimental societal, social and health effects caused by alcoholic substances by controlling the consumption of alcohol. Valvira is tasked with performing a number of licensing, supervisory and guidance activities, as set out in the Alcohol Act.
Valvira manages the following licensing and notification activities relating to alcoholic beverages and spirits:
- Alcohol production
- Alcohol wholesale
- Industrial use of alcohol
- Alcohol import
- International transport
Valvira offers supervision and guidance to alcoholic beverage producers and importers on early supervision and self-monitoring and is responsible for alcohol product control. Valvira also supervises the State Alcohol Monopoly, Alko inc. operations, including ensuring that equal treatment is afforded to all alcoholic beverage producers.
Alcohol trade register
In co-operation with the Regional State Administrative Agencies, Valvira maintains the alcohol trade register, Allu, which contains information on alcohol sector operators and alcohol-related licenses. Information on alcohol deliveries between license holders as well as restaurant and retail sales volumes is also recorded on the system for supervisory purposes. The data is used to generate statistical information on capacity, sales and consumption nationally, which is published annually by the National Institute for Health and Welfare.
Allu e-services
- You need to identify yourself to use the e-services.
- To use Allu, you need to have the Suomi.fi authorisation to act on behalf of your company. Instructions for requesting an authorisation are available on our Allu pages.
- Read the e-service instructions at the top of the front page of Allu. Then select a form and follow its instructions.
Role of the Regional State Administrative Agencies
The Regional State Administrative Agencies (avi.fi) issue the following licenses in their area:
- Licences to serve alcoholic beverages
- Licences for extended serving hours
- Alcoholic beverage retail licenses
In addition, the Regional State Administrative Agencies are responsible for managing changes relating to alcohol-serving and retail premises as well as serving and retail license holder details. They also supervise the serving and retail sales of alcoholic beverages in their area. At Valvira, we provide guidance on licensing and supervision to the Regional State Administrative Agencies with the aim of ensuring that legislation is consistently applied throughout Finland.
The Regional State Administrative Agencies are in the first instance responsible for supervising the advertising and promotion of alcoholic beverages in their area, while Valvira supervises alcoholic beverage advertising taking place across Regional State Administrative Agency boundaries or nationally.
Fighting against the grey economy and financial crime
Valvira collaborates with other authorities to tackle financial crime and the grey economy in the alcohol sector. Our work is aimed at achieving a well-functioning market and ensuring that commercial operators are committed to compliance with legislation designed to guide their activities and promote social responsibility.
Publications
Serving of alcoholic beverages on licensed premises (pdf)
Guidelines on alcohol marketing (pdf)
Contact us
E-mail: alkoholi(at)valvira.fi