The case in summary: – Unmanned alcohol sales are happening all over the country, despite the fact that the Norwegian Directorate of Health believes it is illegal. – None of the shops have received a certificate that the sale is illegal. – The government will now investigate what changes are needed for unmanned alcohol sales to be covered by the legislation. – The technology in the shops must be good enough to meet all requirements for the sale of alcohol. – There is disagreement about whether the technology is good enough, and whether the system is used to buy alcohol for minors. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Around a hundred convenience stores sell alcohol without employees present. The Norwegian Directorate of Health believes this conflicts with the Alcohol Act, which regulates the sale of alcohol. Nevertheless, none of the shops have received a certificate that the sale is illegal. Now the Minister of Health and Care Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) has spoken out about the case. “Being able to have unattended shops in the districts is of great importance for the local community, both for permanent residents and for visitors,” he writes. Legal or not? Health and care minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) does not answer well enough for himself, according to Sveinung Rotevatn (V). Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news Announces change The government will now examine what changes are needed for unmanned alcohol halls to be covered by the legislation, Vestre announces. He says, however, that the changes come with a precondition – the technology in the shops must be good enough to meet all requirements for the sale of alcohol. The answer is more for confusion than clarification, believes Venstre deputy leader Sveinung Rotevatn. – If the government believes that the current practice is not appropriate, then they must be allowed to change the regulations immediately, he says. Rotevatn thinks it is good that the shops are allowed to sell alcohol with this arrangement. Today’s technology is more than good enough to control the beer hall, he believes. The left-wing deputy leader believes the technology in the shops is more than good enough to stop minors trying to buy beer. Photo: Torstein Bøe People are happy Joker Viksdalen is one of the stores with this scheme. There, customers must use fingerprints to identify themselves. If necessary, they can show identification to a camera that an employee monitors. – I think it has worked very well, and people are very positive, said store manager Henny Råheim earlier in September. For the time being, news has not received an answer from the Ministry of Health and Care if the answer from Vestre actually means that shops sell alcohol illegally. Thinks the system is being exploited But not everyone thinks the technology is good enough. – There are many ways one can go around the scanning of ID. There is a poor overview of whether someone should buy alcohol for minors. And then there are no personnel present to assess the condition of the buyer, for example if someone is under the influence of alcohol. That’s according to chairman André Thomassen Haugen of Juvente, an organization that works for less drug use among young people. Illegal is illegal, and the assessment by the Directorate of Health must still apply, according to KrF. Photo: Hanna Johre / Hanna Johre / news The Christian People’s Party is also critical. Deputy owner Ida Lindtveit Røse says it must be assessed by the Directorate of Health, which will apply until further notice. – It is to ensure control that minors are not allowed to buy alcohol. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand that it is easier to get hold of alcohol at unmanned tills, she says. But Rotevatn thinks the objections are bad. – I think that to a large extent one finds challenges, which no one who runs such shops has reported to be real, he says. Published 19.09.2024, at 13.25
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The government is open to changing the rules for alcohol rooms in shops – news Vestland
