Alcohol trade in Estonia: wholesale, retail and catering

In Estonia, selling alcohol in wholesale, in retail or in catering needs a notice of economic activities in the Register of Economic Activities¹⁰ before the sale starts¹¹. The notice names each place of business and the kind of alcohol sold there³⁵, and the sale is then allowed only through those places¹⁴¹⁵. The State Register of Alcohol was repealed from 1 November 2026¹³.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

The Alcohol Act (alkoholiseadus, AS) treats alcohol as a food group made up of spirit and alcoholic beverages¹. An alcoholic beverage is beer with more than 0.5% ethanol by volume and any other drink with more than 1.2% ethanol by volume². Beverages are strong (over 22%), mild (up to 22% inclusive) or low-alcohol (up to 6% inclusive); the notice uses these classes³.

Handling of alcohol includes production, import, export, wholesale (sale to a business or other non-consumer), retail (sale to a consumer) and commercial storage⁴.

Not covered are, among others, ethanol-containing medicines and alcohol carried by a traveller or sent from abroad to a person aged at least 18 for non-commercial use⁵. Retail sale of spirit (ethanol of 96% or more) is prohibited altogether⁶.

The legal act and the authority

The activity is governed by the Alcohol Act and by the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus, MSÜS), which sets the general rules on notices⁷. The Register of Economic Activities (majandustegevuse register, MTR) is kept by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet, TTJA); the registered notice is visible there⁸.

State supervision is split by the act⁹:

• TTJA supervises compliance with the Alcohol Act in general, except the matters below;
• the Tax and Customs Board (Maksu- ja Tolliamet, MTA) supervises the requirements on handling of alcohol;
• the Agriculture and Food Board (Põllumajandus- ja Toiduamet, PTA) supervises food safety and the definition, description and presentation of alcohol;
• the local government supervises retail sale in its territory;
• the police supervise the restrictions on consumption by minors.

Excise matters are governed separately by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act (alkoholi-, tubaka-, kütuse- ja elektriaktsiisi seadus, ATKEAS), whose activity licences are granted by decision of MTA (see section 4)³².

Who must file

A notice of economic activities must be filed for selling alcohol in three fields: retail trade, wholesale trade and catering¹⁰. The notice is filed before the activity starts¹¹. A notice is not filed for selling alcohol at a public event¹².

The State Register of Alcohol, where beverages used to be entered, was repealed from 1 November 2026; its archived data pass to PTA, which keeps them for ten years¹³.

Requirements for the operator

Whether share capital, own-funds, management fit-and-proper or compliance-officer requirements apply is specified for the client's situation. The Alcohol Act requirements below concern the place of sale and the handling of the goods.

Places of business:

• Wholesale is allowed only through a place of business entered in the register, except for export or delivery to the next handler at that handler's place of business¹⁴.
• A retailer may sell only the beverages defined in the notice and only through a place of business entered in the register¹⁵. Alcohol may not be kept or stored at a sales point, its warehouse or other storage room of a wholesale, retail or catering business if the register shows no alcohol definition for that place¹⁶.
• Retail is allowed, among others, in a shop with a sales hall, in a catering or accommodation establishment, at a public event, and by e-commerce through a shop or catering establishment entered in the register¹⁷. Retail at a sales point without a sales hall is prohibited¹⁸.
• Retail is prohibited, among others, at schools and childcare institutions (with the act's exceptions), healthcare providers, welfare and detention institutions, the Defence Forces, in an excise warehouse and as hawking¹⁹.
• In a shop, alcoholic beverages must be placed separately from other goods, in a way that a consumer does not unavoidably come across them, and the display must not be noticeably visible from the rest of the sales hall or from outside²⁰.
• Retail in a shop or catering establishment requires a cash register at the place of business through which every alcohol sale is recorded²¹.

Hours and age, as the act states them:

• Retail in shops and mobile sales vehicles is allowed from 10:00 to 22:00 (airport passenger areas and international ships and aircraft excepted)²². Take-away sale is prohibited from 22:00 to 10:00, and delivery to the consumer is prohibited from 22:00 to 10:00²³.
• The local council may add restrictions on assortment, places and form of sale, and may restrict on-site consumption sales in set hours²⁴.
• Offering, selling or handing alcohol to a minor is prohibited; the seller must establish the buyer's age from an identity document unless the buyer is obviously an adult or known to the seller²⁵. A minor is a person under 18²⁶. Sale to a person showing signs of intoxication is prohibited²⁷.

Handling of goods:

• Wholesale and export must be documented with a waybill showing the type, name, producer, volume, ethanol content and producer's batch code; retail is allowed only if such a waybill exists for the beverage²⁸.
• Import, wholesale and export of alcohol are settled by cashless payment²⁹.
• Alcohol a handler produces or brings into Estonia is recorded by the producer's batch code; retail-only sellers are exempt³⁰.
• The retail price, the type and name of the beverage and, for on-site consumption, the quantity must be displayed; mandatory label information must be available in Estonian³¹.

Excise, by reference only: an excise warehouse keeper (produces, stores and dispatches goods under duty suspension) and a registered consignee (receives such goods from another member state) need an MTA activity licence under ATKEAS³². Alcohol over 22% in packages of 0.05 litres or more must carry tax stamps³³. Whether these apply is specified for the client's case.

Documents and data filed

The notice is a set of data:

General data (MSÜS)³⁴:

• company name, registry code and contact details;
• the name of the field under the act and its classification code;
• the start date if it differs from the filing date;
• the name and contact details of the signatory and the basis of the right of representation;
• for each place of business, its address (including a website address) and contact details if different.

Additional data required by the Alcohol Act³⁵:

• each place of business (its designation, name and, for e-commerce, website address);
• the definition of the alcohol handled at each place (spirit, beer, strong, mild or low-alcohol beverage);
• whether the company intends to import or export alcohol (wholesale) or alcoholic beverages (retail, catering).

The notice may be filed only through the Estonian information gateway (Eesti teabevärav) or through a notary³⁶. Later changes in the general data are notified within five working days, and a confirmation that the notice obligations have been met is filed with the annual report³⁷.

State fee and processing time

Whether a state fee applies is specified for the client's situation; the notice may be filed only through the Estonian information gateway or a notary³⁶. The former State Fees Act (riigilõivuseadus, RLS) section on the State Register of Alcohol was repealed with effect from 1 November 2026³⁸. A notary's own fee, if the notice is filed through a notary, is specified for the client's case.

The registrar enters the data of a notice in the register no later than on the working day after the notice is filed³⁹. This is the law's time limit, not a promise.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

LexorCorp Global OÜ prepares the notice of economic activities for your company: the requirements of the Alcohol Act for the field from the official text, the submission through the Register of Economic Activities and written follow-up of the authority's questions. The price depends on the activity and is given on request; the request reaches LexorCorp like any other enquiry and the reply is sent by email. State fees, where they apply, are paid by the client. LexorCorp does not give legal or tax advice, does not audit premises and does not guarantee any decision or date; the authorities decide and supervise.

To request a price, open the guide Licensed and notifiable activities in Estonia and choose "Request a price" under Trade for retail, wholesale or catering with alcohol.

Sources

1. Alkoholiseadus § 2 lg 1 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
2. Alkoholiseadus § 2 lg 3 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
3. Alkoholiseadus § 2 lg 5–7; § 23 lg 2 p 2 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
4. Alkoholiseadus § 3 lg 1 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
5. Alkoholiseadus § 1 lg 3 p 1, 4, 5 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
6. Alkoholiseadus § 30; § 2 lg 2 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
7. Alkoholiseadus § 23 lg 2 (with MSÜS § 14–15) — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text); MSÜS 01.09.2025
8. MSÜS § 8 lg 1, 4; § 51 lg 2 — text in force from 01.09.2025
9. Alkoholiseadus § 49 lg 1–5 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
10. Alkoholiseadus § 23 lg 1 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
11. MSÜS § 14 lg 1 — text in force from 01.09.2025
12. Alkoholiseadus § 23 lg 11 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
13. Alkoholiseadus 2. ptk 3. jagu §-d 8–16; § 763 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
14. Alkoholiseadus § 29 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
15. Alkoholiseadus § 41 lg 6 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
16. Alkoholiseadus § 3 lg 3 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
17. Alkoholiseadus § 40 lg 1 p 1, 2, 3, 8, 12 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
18. Alkoholiseadus § 41 lg 3 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
19. Alkoholiseadus § 41 lg 1–2 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
20. Alkoholiseadus § 40 lg 12–13 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
21. Alkoholiseadus § 44 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
22. Alkoholiseadus § 40 lg 11 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
23. Alkoholiseadus § 40 lg 2; § 41 lg 5 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
24. Alkoholiseadus § 42 lg 1 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
25. Alkoholiseadus § 47 lg 2–3 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
26. Tsiviilseadustiku üldosa seadus § 8 lg 2 — text in force from 01.01.2025
27. Alkoholiseadus § 45 lg 1 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
28. Alkoholiseadus § 21 lg 1, 3 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
29. Alkoholiseadus § 20 lg 1 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
30. Alkoholiseadus § 17 lg 1, 3 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
31. Alkoholiseadus § 43 lg 1, 3, 4 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
32. ATKEAS § 3, § 42 lg 1, § 38 lg 1–2 — text in force from 01.11.2026
33. ATKEAS § 491 lg 2 — text in force from 01.11.2026
34. MSÜS § 15 lg 1 p 1, 2, 4, 5, 7; lg 3 — text in force from 01.09.2025
35. Alkoholiseadus § 23 lg 2 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
36. Alkoholiseadus § 23 lg 3 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 03.07.2026, 33 consolidated text)
37. MSÜS § 30 lg 5–6 — text in force from 01.09.2025
38. Riigilõivuseadus § 345; § 261³² (repealed from 01.11.2026; § 257 had already been repealed from 01.07.2023); MSÜS § 9 lg 1, 6 — text in force from 01.11.2026 (RT I, 21.10.2026, 10 consolidated text)
39. MSÜS § 59 lg 2 — text in force from 01.09.2025

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

• State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources in the text are named without links; the official texts are linked under Official sources. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.