G/TBT/N/LTU/28  
 
9 May 2016  
(16-2551)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member: LITHUANIA  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):    
2. Agency responsible: Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :  
Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania 
Gedimino av. 38 
Vilnius Lithuania Telephone +370 7066 3677 
Email: aurelija.janusauske@ukmin.lt 
Web-site: www.ukmin.lt  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10 .1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applic able, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): Alcoholic beverages 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  The Draft Order of 
the Minister of Economy Establishing Rules for Labelling Alcoholic Beverages with Graphic 
Warning About Harmful Effects of Alcohol for Pregnant Women (2 pages, in Lithuanian; 2 pages, in English).  
6. Description of content: Draft Order of the Minister of Economy Establishing Rules for 
Labelling Alcoholic Beverages with Graphic Warning About Harmful Effects of Alcohol for Pregnant Women (hereinafter - Draft Order) establishes that all units of alcohol beverages 
prepacked for selling shall carry a graphic warning about the harmful effects of alcohol for 
pregnant women. Draft Order provides an ex ample of the graphic warning and establishes 
rules on labelling alcoholic beverages with graphic warnings mentioned above. 
In the Draft Order it is stipulated that graphic warning should be placed on the container of 
the alcoholic beverage next to the mandatory information, in the background of contrasting colour that it would be clearly seen, not covered by text or other graphic 
labels. 
The diameter of the graphic warning shall be no t less than 5 mm if the container of alcohol 
beverage does not exceed 500 ml and 10 mm if the container of alcoholic beverage exceeds 500 ml.  
Note: there is no obligation to imprint the graphic warning into the label of alcoholic 
beverage, so the labels might be placed on the containers of alcoholic beverages in any manner (eg. in the format of stickers). Also, the Draft Order is applied to the companies 
providing alcohol beverages to Lithuanian ma rket, so the labelling might be done by 
wholesaler. Alcohol beverages that do not m eet the requirements set by the Draft order 
may be sold until their stocks run out if they were provided to market before the entry into 
force of the Draft order.  G/TBT/N/LTU/28 
 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: 
Alcohol consumption in Lithuania is one of the highest in Europe. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is becoming a matter of great concern, as every year the number of 
newborns with foetal alcohol syndrome is rising (according to the data, provided by 
Lithuanian Compulsory Health Insurance Information Database SVEIDRA, there were no registered newborns with foetal alcohol syndrome in 2007 and 2008, but 17 cases were 
registered in 2011, and 40 cases in 2014).  
The draft represents an additional measure to reduce the usage and accessibility of alcohol 
established in the Law on Alcohol Control of the Republic of Lithuania and in the 
Interinstitutional Action Plan for Prevention of Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol. This measure is 
also being supported by World Health Organization in its European action plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol in 2012-2020.  
8. Relevant documents:  -  
9. Proposed date of adoption: 31 August 2016 
Proposed date of entry into force: 1 November 2016 
10. Final date for comments: 60 days after circulation by the WTO Secretariat 
11. Texts available from: Nati onal enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body: