Bulgaria makes and drinks about 45m litres of illegal rakia a year, while customs officers seized just 15,000 litres in eight months. That's according to tax law expert Miroslav Karakashev, who spoke to the Bulgarian National Radio.

His estimate is based on World Health Organization and OECD data, which count both registered and unregistered production. Bulgaria drinks 70m litres of pure alcohol a year, of which 52m litres are legally made, declared and sold.

That leaves 18m litres of pure alcohol unaccounted for. Converted into 40-degree rakia, that's the figure he gives.

What customs has seized is a tiny amount, and Karakashev says the fight against the grey market in spirits is barely happening.

"The authorities know about it, but so far nothing has been done to stop this kind of activity," he said on the show "Before Everyone".

The legal changes now being announced won't really change the current rules, he added. Only the size of the fines for breaches is being updated — breaches already punishable under the law on excise duties and tax warehouses.

The rules on home-made rakia in Bulgaria haven't changed in 20 years. They sit not just in national law but in an EU directive, which was written into Bulgarian law back in 2006.

Karakashev pointed out that under the directive, you can't drink alcohol on which no excise duty has been paid. Only alcohol distilled from your own fruit counts as home-made — if you buy plums and turn them into rakia, that already breaks the current rules.

He wants checks on who buys the raw fruit too, so that only licensed or registered alcohol producers can buy it. Alcohol meant for sale should be checked and controlled, he said, so it's safe to drink.

The "home-made" label sells best in Bulgaria, but Karakashev says it's often abused.

"People sell products under that label that have nothing to do with tradition or culture — they're made by people producing illegal alcohol in industrial quantities," he said.

He urged people to think of their health and not trust such products.