Responsible managers and alcohol passport
The serving premises must have, in view of the extent and quality of the activity, an adequate number of staff to ensure efficient supervision and maintenance of order. Staff must supervise compliance with the prohibitions and limitations set in the Alcohol Act and be responsible for maintaining order on the licenced premises.
Responsible managers
The licence holder must be represented on the licensed premises by a responsible manager appointed by the licence holder or other person assigned to this duty by the licence holder if the premises are open to the public. The responsible manager or other designated person must be aged 18 or older.
A person who has turned 16 may serve alcohol only under the immediate supervision of a responsible manager or some other person over the age of 18 appointed to the task. The licence holder must organise the supervision of the serving in such a way that a person over 18 years of age responsible for the serving of alcoholic beverages can effectively monitor the serving and intervene in it if necessary.
The licence holder of the serving licence must ensure that the responsible manager or other person appointed to the task has an alcohol proficiency certificate, i.e. alcohol passport, pursuant to the model approved by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira).
Persons who were qualified as responsible managers of licensed premises pursuant to section 21b of the old Alcohol Act (1143/1994) at the time when the new Alcohol Act entered into force on 1 March 2018 shall be deemed to fulfil the qualification requirements specified for the alcohol proficiency certificate in the new Act. Also, an alcohol proficiency certificate issued while the old Alcohol Act was in force shall be considered sufficient proof of knowledge of the Alcohol Act.
Persons who sell alcoholic beverages or who participate in the supervision of the serving of alcoholic beverages must not be under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicating substance when performing their job duties.
Alcohol passport
An alcohol proficiency certificate (i.e. alcohol passport, anniskelupassi in Finnish) is issued by educational institutions providing training in the restaurant services pursuant to a Government licence or an authorisation from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The alcohol passport can be issued to a person who has passed a test evaluating knowledge of the Alcohol Act and how it is supervised. The test is deemed to have been passed if at least 80 per cent of questions are correct. There needs to have at least 30 questions on the test. The educational establishments administering the examinations draw up the examination questions on the basis of Valvira's guidelines Serving of alcoholic beverages on licensed premises (pdf). This guideline includes the regulations on licensed premises. The questions must cover at least provisions of the Alcohol Act concerning prohibitions, staff responsibility for supervision and maintenance of order, serving area, and serving hours. It is possible to take the test without attending the training of the educational institution.
The list of educational establishments offering the alcohol passport examination (pdf) is updated on the basis of the notifications made by the educational institutions to Valvira.
Vocational upper secondary qualifications, further vocational qualifications and specialist vocational qualifications in the food and restaurant sector, as well as a bachelor’s degree in the travel and hospitality industry are considered equivalent to passing the test for an alcohol proficiency certificate, provided that the qualification or degree includes skills on the topics covered in the test. An educational institution providing training and education in restaurant services may issue an alcohol passport to a person who has completed one of the aforementioned qualifications.
What to do if the alcohol passport has lost?
Valvira does not have a register of completed alcohol proficiency certificates. If you have lost your alcohol passport, please ask for a copy of your alcohol passport from the educational institution that granted it.
Change of name
Alcohol passports include personal identity codes based on which they can be verified as having been issued to a specific person. Therefore, an alcohol passport does not need to be renewed if the name of a person who has been issued the passport changes.