TheRiigikogu passed with78 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act and Associated Acts (294 SE), initiated by the Government. The Act transposes the provisions of directives to amend the exemption limits of excise goods which a traveller is allowed to import; excise duty is levied on oil shale used for the production of heat as of 2011; tax collection is enhanced by setting additional requirements for excise duty payer, e.g. the obligation to submit the descriptions of the measurings carried out upon storage and procedure rules to the tax authority; the right to impose penalty payment in order to ensure compliance with the requirements of the excise duty Act is granted to the tax authority; denaturing of alcohol with denaturing agents used in any EU Member State is allowed; the administrative burden of undertakings is reduced. The Act enters into force on 1 January 2009, clauses 1 50) and 51) enter into force on 1 July 2009 and clauses 1 70), 71), 91) and 92) enter into force on 1 December 2008. Nobody voted against the Act and nobody abstained.

The Act on Amendments to the Fertilizers Act, the Plant Protection Act and the State Fees Act (310 SE), initiated by the Government, was passed with 78 votes in favour. The amendments eliminate several terminological inaccuracies, amend Acts according to the European Union law and enhance the supervision exercised over the handling of fertilizers. The situation will be simplified for handlers of fertilizers with the “EEC fertilizer” marking as registration for a fee will be replaced by the single notification obligation free of charge which will reduce the administrative burden of undertakings. As of now, a relevant document (certificate of quality of the fertilizer) concerning the composition of the fertilizer, issued by the producer, may be the document attesting the conformity of the composition of a fertilizer, besides the test protocol issued by an accredited laboratory. The regulation concerning conveyance of plant protection products to Estonia and the use thereof was extended in the Plant Protection Act. The Act enters into force on 1 January 2009 and § 22 of the Act enters into force on 1 June 2009. Nobody voted against the Act, one member of the Riigikogu abstained.
 
 
The Riigikogu Press Service
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