Russia to lower alcohol content in household goods

MOSCOW, May 20 (UPI) -- A Russian regulation to reduce the alcohol content of cleaning products has international manufacturers concerned their products will be removed from store shelves.

They are asking the government to delay a June 1 requirement that a special license be obtained for detergents, soap, cleaning products, insect repellents and similar products with an alcohol content of over 0.5 percent. The current threshold is 1.5 percent.

The market for Russian cleaning products reached $3.8 billion in 2014, the market analysis firm Euromonitor International reported.

A Russian trade group sent a letter, seeking clarification of the regulation and requesting a delay in its implementation, to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin, who oversees Russia's entire alcohol market.

The concern came days after Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, reminisced in an interview his 1985 anti-alcohol campaign was a mistake. In an attempt to curb alcoholism in the Soviet Union, prices of beer, wine and vodka were raised and their sale was restricted by amount and to certain times of the day, and drinking was discouraged in public places. Alcohol sales and government revenue fell dramatically, and the plan was deemed a failure.