Apr 22 (NHK) - The Japanese government has created a new license that will allow more Japanese sake brewers to produce strong alcoholic drinks as a substitute sanitizer for coronavirus.
The National Tax Administration Agency on Tuesday started accepting applications from beverage makers for the time-limited license.
The measure is aimed at making up for supply shortages of alcohol-based sanitizers caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Calls have been mounting from medical institutions and care homes that have been struggling to obtain such products.
In response, the health ministry earlier this month allowed medical institutions to use drinks with high alcohol content as a substitute for sanitizers.
Some beverage makers have already started making products with high concentration ethanol. But this requires a special license for brewing spirits such as vodkas. The latest measure will allow more makers to join efforts to increase supplies of disinfectant.
The tax agency says it will process applications as quickly as possible so that institutions in need will be able to make use of these substitute sanitizer products.
