REGULATION

ESTONIA

Despite a few initiatives in recent years selling energy drinks to minors is not prohibited. However, in 2014 the Ministry of Agriculture, the Veterinary and Food Board, the National Institute for Health Development, and the Consumer Protection Board developed a good practice policy for the marketing of energy drinks. Most importantly, the policy sets out that:

energy drinks are not sold together or advertised as to be used with alcohol;
when the packaging size is increased, this increase is not used as a marketing technique;
a drink should not contain more than 300mg of caffeine;
advertising and labelling should not refer to the drinks as thirst-quenching or sources of energy;
energy drinks should not be positioned in stores near the checkouts, alcoholic beverages, sports beverages or products aimed at children.

Regarding the advertising, there are no separate limitations introduced by the law, but the Consumer Protection Agency has issued its recommendations for advertising energy drinks to children. They outline that:

advertising should not depict children;
promotion campaigns with prizes and free energy drink give-aways should not be used;
there should be no advertising in educational institutions nor products related to school (e.g. notebooks);
TV advertising should not be used before or after programmes intended for children;
internet advertising should not be used on websites intended for children;
there should be no advertising during events intended for children.

Apart from the aforementioned documents some local governments additionally regulate energy drinks within their jurisdiction. For example, they prohibit the sale and consumption of energy drinks on the premises of schools. As for business self-regulation, since 2012 the Rimi retail chain voluntarily restricts the sale to those under 16 years and additionally controls the location of energy drinks in its shops.

Links to the relevant legislation (in Estonian):