Liquor Board bans 8 locally made alcoholic beverages

Press Release

APIA, SAMOA – 31 MAY 2022: The Liquor Board has ordered the immediate stop on the manufacture, distribution and sale of eight locally made alcoholic beverages and have cancelled the manufacturers licenses.

The products include the ethanol and rice based locally manufactured Vodka products including Rover, Sami, Boom, Rice, King and Niu Vodka. Also banned are Olioli Wine and Olioli alcohol beverages and Talofa Plum Wine cocktail mix.

In a public notice, the Board also said that the manufacture, distribution and sale of Sili and Moni beer remain on hold until further notice.

The Board also allowed the manufacture and sale of Vailima Export Larger (also known as Povi) and Taula Strong.

The Board put a stop notice on the manufacture and sale of these products in April this year as it investigates the products ethanol and alcoholic content.

Some of these ethanol and rice based alcohol products had been linked to a number of serious and violent domestic incidences with some resulting in the loss of life and serious injuries.

The Court and Police had previously appealed to the Board to investigate and stop the manufacture of these products given what police and the courts had found.

The issue also prompted a heated debate in Parliament in June 2020 with calls to ban the products but did not stop the production and sale of these products then.