Difference between revisions of "Pečenje rakije (Serbia)"

In March 2019, a 98-year-old woman from Lika in Croatia, a region with a sizeable ethnic Serbian minority, was fined with 267€ for making her own rakija in her yard, and 54 liters of ''rakija'' were seized from her by the authorities. The news spread rapidly in Serbian online media (Politika 2019) and sparked an outrage on social networks The news was interpreted as an impact of the EU-influenced legislation on the older, more tolerant domestic laws. Domestic distilling, although being a non-authorized practice is highly tolerated and rarely fined practice in Serbia. Many rural households own an orchard and the distillation equipment and distillation of the ''rakija'' is considered as custom. The production ‘for own use’ is wide-spread in the country and tolerated by the authorities. The Serbian legislation about the high-proof distilled spirits recently changed. In the 2009 legislation (Zakon o rakiji i drugim alkoholnim pićima Sl.glasnik RS br. 41/2009) the law prohibited the sale and marketing of any alcohol not produced according to the national regulation. It fined all irregular, non-standardized production but it differentiated between ''rakija'' and other high-proof distilled spirits. In a later edition of the Law (Zakon o rakiji i drugim alkoholnim pićima Sl.glasnik RS br. 92/2015) this distinction was suspended and ''rakija'' has lost its special legal status.  

In March 2019, a 98-year-old woman from Lika in Croatia, a region with a sizeable ethnic Serbian minority, was fined with 267€ for making her own rakija in her yard, and 54 liters of ''rakija'' were seized from her by the authorities. The news spread rapidly in Serbian online media (Politika 2019) and sparked an outrage on social networks The news was interpreted as an impact of the EU-influenced legislation on the older, more tolerant domestic laws. Domestic distilling, although being a non-authorized practice is highly tolerated and rarely fined practice in Serbia. Many rural households own an orchard and the distillation equipment and distillation of the ''rakija'' is considered as custom. The production ‘for own use’ is wide-spread in the country and tolerated by the authorities. The Serbian legislation about the high-proof distilled spirits recently changed. In the 2009 legislation (Zakon o rakiji i drugim alkoholnim pićima Sl.glasnik RS br. 41/2009) the law prohibited the sale and marketing of any alcohol not produced according to the national regulation. It fined all irregular, non-standardized production but it differentiated between ''rakija'' and other high-proof distilled spirits. In a later edition of the Law (Zakon o rakiji i drugim alkoholnim pićima Sl.glasnik RS br. 92/2015) this distinction was suspended and ''rakija'' has lost its special legal status.  

Barjaktarović M. 1951. ''Od čega se i kako peče rakija u Banatu. Zbornik Matice Srpske. Serija Društvenih nauka 2''. Novi Sad: Matica srpske pp. 119-121.

Barjaktarović M. 1951. ''Od čega se i kako peče rakija u Banatu. Zbornik Matice Srpske. Serija Društvenih nauka 2''. Novi Sad: Matica srpske pp. 119-121.