In the Garrison in Porsanger in Finnmark, not a single liquor control has been carried out since they received a liquor license in 2017. This is shown by the insight news has obtained. It is the municipality that is responsible for the liquor controls being carried out. Steinar Sæterdal, municipal director in Porsanger municipality. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news Municipality director in Porsanger, Steinar Sæterdal, is tight-lipped when he explains the lack of control. – You have received what we have. Beyond that, I have no comment other than that liquor control should of course be at irregular intervals. We will see to it that it happens in a suitable way. 49 liquor licenses The armed forces have 49 liquor licenses around the country. 48 are state-owned, and one is municipal. State grants apply to trains, ships, planes and the Armed Forces’ bars. These are called leisure fairs or commander’s fairs. Gift grants in the Armed Forces. Messe, like all other bars and restaurants, must have an unannounced visit by the pub inspector at least once a year. Some of the fairs are far away from the nearest town or village. Some of them are right in the center of Oslo. According to the Norwegian Armed Forces, some of the bars are open once or twice a week, others less often than that. Alcohol is sold there cheaper than in other bars and restaurants. Troms and Finnmark is one of the largest defense counties. news has been given access to liquor controls over the past six years at several commander’s fairs in four municipalities in this county. Three checks In the last six years, there has also been a lack of liquor control in the mess in the Garrison in Sør-Varanger. This shows the insight that news has made. In 2020 and 2021, there was no liquor control at the Armed Forces’ fairs due to the coronavirus and capacity problems. Acting head of office Kristin Kristiansen, in Sør-Varanger municipality, tells news. The Norwegian Defense Forces states that all fairs were closed during the corona pandemic. In the mass in the Garrison in Sør-Varanger, there was no liquor control in 2018, 2020 and 2021, according to insights news has obtained. Photo: Torgeir Haugaard/Forsvaret In 2018 there was no liquor control either. Kristiansen points out that they then used a company that was not based in the municipality. The command center has limited and irregular opening hours, and is closed in connection with exercises, the municipality states. If the fair was closed when the company was in the municipality to carry out an inspection, that could be the reason for the lack of inspection, says the acting head of office in Sør-Varanger. – This does not, however, release the municipality from the control responsibility we have. We strive to comply with the control plan and plan so that all places are checked, she says. State liquor licenses: The municipalities: Responsibility for checking state liquor licenses granted to the Armed Forces’ fairs for military personnel has been assigned to the municipality. This follows from § 1-9 of the Alcohol Act. The municipality only sanctions those with a municipal grant, not the state. State manager: They determine the fee for the Armed Forces fairs with a state liquor license, must pay once a year to have a liquor license. The money accrues to the municipality that will carry out the pub inspection(s). The Norwegian Directorate of Health: Is the licensing authority, awards liquor licenses and sanctions/revokes liquor licenses. Since the municipalities do not sanction those with a state grant, but only carry out the inspection, it is the Norwegian Directorate of Health that must receive the report(s) from the municipality’s pub inspection, look at the conditions and, if necessary, sanction. All catering establishments with a liquor license must have a liquor inspection at least once a year, but there may be more. There must be three times as many liquor controls as there are liquor licenses in the municipality. Consequences of the alcohol regulations § 9-7. The controls must be goal-directed. The municipalities themselves decide how the controls are to be distributed to the various licensing locations, based on the risk situation at the individual sales and drinking location. For example: A municipality with ten drinking locations must carry out 30 controls a year. Some of them may be checked once, some may be checked twice, some three times, some four or five times, etc., as long as they add up to 30 checks in total. Source: The Norwegian Directorate of Health – Will there be a notified check The bar checks must be unannounced, also in the Armed Forces. But there it is a little more difficult than at, for example, other catering establishments. When the bar inspectors arrive at the camp, they must first report to a guard who will take them into the military area. They are then shown on to the mass. The police must also report to the guard before they are allowed to enter military territory. Head of investigations at the Midt-Troms police station district, Katrine Grimnes, says that they check outdoor areas as often as the service allows. In the Armed Forces, the military police are responsible for peace and order, while the police are responsible for this in civil society, she says. According to Grimnes, the police sometimes carry out blood alcohol checks in the camps. She says that there are slightly different experiences of how the police are met. – Some of our crews are allowed in, while other patrols are stopped on guard. It doesn’t seem like it’s a fixed routine, says the head of the investigation. In the Armed Forces’ fairs, the police have no real opportunity to carry out checks, says head of investigations at Midt-Trom’s police station district, Katrine Grimnes. Photo: Dan Henrik Klausen / news Torbjørn Bongo is the leader of the Norwegian Officers’ and Specialists’ Association. He believes that others cannot enter the bar unannounced when they do not have clearance to be in a military area, and that this is a consideration that must be taken care of. Based on his own visits to various fairs, Bongo believes that the Armed Forces have good control: – When I have been present at various fairs in recent years, I feel that the existing rules are followed. And they are strictly followed, says the union leader. Torbjørn Bongo, head of the Norwegian Officers’ and Specialists’ Association, feels that there is good control of the fairs. Photo: Rebekka Ellingsen / news Roger Røsnes is a senior adviser within canteens, bar operations and the bindery center at the Norwegian Armed Forces’ personnel and conscription centre. When asked about the lack of pub controls, he points out that it is the municipalities that are responsible for pub controls, and that the Armed Forces themselves control the fairs when they are open. – Rarely receives a control report It is the Directorate of Health and not the municipalities that must sanction those who have a state liquor licence. Department director for the living conditions department in the Directorate of Health, Øyvind Giæver, also refers to the municipalities on questions about the lack of liquor control in Porsanger and Sør-Varanger. He says that he does not know the specific cases, and therefore does not want to comment on them. The Directorate of Health will probably not do anything in these cases, says the director of the department. – But it may be that we should be better at reminding the municipalities that they are also responsible for state liquor licences. – Perhaps the municipalities are not always aware of their control responsibility for state liquor licences, and perhaps we do not always receive reports for carried out controls, says Giæver in the Directorate of Health. Photo: Svein Olsson / news The Directorate of Health does not have statistics on the lack of liquor control at places with a state liquor licence. – It is relatively rare that we receive inspection reports from municipalities after local inspection at the Defense’s fairs. We don’t know what caused this, says Giæver. Alcohol served to minors In Målselv municipality in Troms, the Norwegian Armed Forces have three liquor licenses associated with Skjold Leir, the Combat Service Support battalion and Bardufoss air station. In 2018, there were two deviations related to the age of the person who served alcohol at two of the Armed Forces’ bars in Målselv. This shows the insight news has gained. In one bar, there was a person under the age of 18 who served alcohol with up to 22 per cent. In the other bar, there was a person under the age of 20 who served alcohol with at least 22 per cent. Skjold camp, one of three camps with a liquor license in Målselv municipality. Photo: Linda Pedersen / news The senior adviser within canteens, bar operations and the bindery center in the Norwegian Armed Forces says it is difficult to comment on the individual cases in Målselv, because he has no knowledge of the cases. On a general basis, persons under the age of 18 do not have access to the Armed Forces’ fairs. – All those who provide service as bar staff must be paid through the Armed Forces’ salary system, and the operation must follow the guidelines applicable at all times within the law, regulations and internal defense guidelines. Overview of gift licenses in the Armed Forces: Akershus fortress Andøya air station Bardufoss air station Banak air station Bergenhus fortress Bodin camp Bodø air station Den Gamle Krigsskole Dombås camp Drevjamoen camp Evenes Air Force Base Defense personnel and salary administration PLA Harstad Defense veterans’ center Gardermoen air station The garrison in Porsanger The garrison in Sør-Varanger Haakonsvern orlog station Heistadmoen camp Huseby camp (Gardeleiren) Jørstadmoen military camp Kjeller air station Kjevik station Kongeskipet Norway Kolsås camp Linderud Air Force Station Sørreisa Luftkrigskolen Trondheim Lutvann camp Madlaeiren Navy – sailing vessel Ramsund war station Rena camp Ridehuset Hamar Rustad camp Bardufoss Rygge air station Sessvollmoen camp Setermoen camp Artilleriet Setermoen camp PBN Setnesmoen camp Navy coast guard station Sortland Naval Academy Bergen Skjold camp Terningmoen camp Trondenes camp Ulven camp Vatneleiren Vatneleiren – HV-Huset Værnes Ga rnisonen Ørland main airport Source: Directorate of Health In Målselv, the fairs were closed on several occasions when the liquor control came to check. This shows the insights news has gained in recent years. The fairs in Bardu were also closed on several occasions when the pub inspectors came to check, insight shows. Inspections show that the pub inspection had one remark, related to the framework agreement, in the fairs in Bardu in 2022. The inspections show that when the fairs in Bardu were open and serving alcohol, there were no deviations during inspection. The defense also has a liquor license in Porsanger registered at Banak air station. news has not applied for access to the bar checks at this officers’ meeting. – No point award Division Director Giæver in the Directorate of Health is also not aware of the age conditions that were uncovered in Målselv in 2017. He says that the Armed Forces did not receive any points for the conditions, since the point award only applies to those with municipal grants. The reason is that the state grants are given “until further notice”, without being limited to a period of time, as the municipal grants are, he says. news has presented the findings after inspecting the liquor controls to the head of the federation, who believes that the control is good: – I would almost expect that there may have been cases of error. I assume that these mistakes have been corrected afterwards, says Torbjørn Bongo, head of the Norwegian Officers’ and Specialists’ Association.
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The defense bar in Porsanger in Finnmark has not had bar checks – news Troms and Finnmark
