www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The Scottish Government has passed the Alcohol Minimum Pricing Bill, meaning a 50 pence minimum unit price (MUP) could be in place north of the border by April next year. The Bill requires Royal Assent and still faces the threat of potential legal challenges as warned of by sections of the alcohol industry.

A 50 pence MUP would set a minimum floor price for an average strength bottle of wine at £4.69, vodka at £13.13 a bottle (70cl) and a standard four-pack of lager would need to cost at least £3.52. The Bill sets a minimum price for a unit of alcohol as a condition of licence.

However most drinks would be unaffected, especially those sold in pubs and restaurants. The minimum price would not be raised for at least two years and is reported to include a „sunset clause“. The move is expected to save lives and reduce crime based on evidence linking price and consumption and modelling work by the University of Sheffield.
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 05/25/12)

A detailed analysis of the alcohol industry’s submissions to a Parliamentary Inquiry has exposed a raft of false, misleading and unfounded claims.
The damning finding comes as alcohol industry representatives meet in Canberra today to present to the House of Representatives Inquiry into Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), and calls into doubt the veracity of the industry claims.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) analysed four alcohol industry submissions from the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA), the Brewers Association of Australia and New Zealand Inc (Brewers), the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA) and the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI).

The analysis found that between them, the alcohol industry bodies made a total of ten false or misleading claims regarding FASD, and the effectiveness of interventions to prevent FASD.
Demonstrating a total lack of commitment to preventing FASD, two of the industry submissions even talk down the need for action, suggesting current activities to prevent FASD are sufficient.

FARE Chief Executive, Michael Thorn said it is crucial that none of the industry’s unsubstantiated claims go unchallenged.
“This is not simply ‘claim’ and ‘counter claim’. This is about separating the facts from the industry fiction. The alcohol industry is so hell bent on putting profit ahead of public health that it’s prepared to bend or even disregard the truth completely, to suit its own agenda,” Mr Thorn said. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/23/12) fare.org.au, Media Release, 05/24/12

A focus on excise duty pass-through, on- and off-trade sales, price promotions and pricing regulations
Prepared for the European Commission, DG SANCO and the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers Contract Reference N° SC2010 63 06

Policies related to alcohol pricing, promotion and discounts provide opportunities to address harms associated with alcohol consumption. However, there are important gaps in information and knowledge about various policy-relevant aspects of alcohol retail and pricing. This information could help governments to plan their alcohol strategies better and develop evidence-based policies.
To address these knowledge gaps, this report presents findings from our research, which focused on the following four areas of inquiry:
· the link between changes in excise duties and changes in alcohol consumer prices
· the trends in the ratio of on-trade to off-trade consumption of alcohol, and their drivers
· the scale of alcohol price promotions and discounts in the on- and off-trade across the EU
· regulations in Member States on price promotions and discounts, their compliance and effectiveness. …

(Source: DG Health & Consumers website (23-05-2012 full text, pdf) RAND Corporation, Arlington VA 22202, United States)

The European Centre for Monitoring Alcohol Monitoring (EUCAM) has delivered a luke warm response to the Responsible Marketing Pact. The pact was trumpeted to be the first time that common standards would be implemented throughout the EU. The standards would protect young people from undue exposure to alcohol and prohibit marketing being directed at minors. The alcohol industry had claimed that self-regulation is working, and should be expanded.

However AMMIE (Alcohol Marketing Monitoring in Europe) at the EUCAM conference in March, warned against mere „window dressing“ and called for an outright ban on advertising. Their research showed that on average each minor in the 5 countries they researched (Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Bulgaria and Denmark) were exposed to 44 alcohol commercials in 2 months. They noted numerous violations of the 30% rule, whereby advertising should only be allowed where under 30% of the population are minors. In practice, they insist, there is nowhere in Europe where there is a population group consisting of more than 30% minors, meaning that alcohol advertising can go unchecked. …
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 05/22/12) EUCAM Newsletter May 2012

Alcohol advertising should be banned in Europe in a bid to drive down excess boozing and associated ill health across the continent, concludes an alliance of experts in a new policy brief.

Alcohol is Europe’s most persistent and devastating addiction problem, says the Addiction and Lifestyles in Contemporary Europe – Reframing Addictions Project (ALICE-RAP), which brings together a network of over 150 researchers with expertise in many different aspects of addiction, including the social and economic impact. …

The briefing notes that the most effective and fairest policies are those which nudge people towards lower consumption, through price hikes, restrictions on availability, and advertising bans.

A minimum unit price, which the Scottish government announced its intention to introduce earlier this week, is supported by research, says the briefing. Scotland has opted for a 50 pence minimum unit price, while England is considering a 40 pence option. …

The evidence shows that alcohol adverts push people into higher and more harmful levels of consumption and trigger relapse among those trying to give up booze. Furthermore, it can encourage young people to start drinking, says the brief, which advocates a wholesale ban.

“Europeans drink more than twice the world’s average and alcohol represents the number one addiction problem in Europe today, greater than any other drug or gambling, “ said Dr Peter Anderson, Professor of Substance Use, Policy and Practice, Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, and co-leader of the project, speaking at the report’s launch yesterday.

“Our aim with this policy brief is to help decision makers across the EU and beyond break the negative pattern of harmful alcohol consumption and costs by providing much needed scientific input to the discussion, which has long been dominated by the alcohol industry lobbyists,” he added.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 05/21/12) onmedica.com, 05/17/12

Comment: Unfortunately many politicians do not like scientific input.

One in eight deaths of UK adults under the age of 64 is caused by alcohol, an international conference on tackling problem drinking has heard.

The social cost of alcohol abuse has been estimated to be £240 a year for each European, with the annual bill for the NHS alone being £2.7 billion.

A major conference of addiction specialists from across the world is meeting at Newcastle University and organisers have called for England to follow Scotland and set a minimum price per unit.

They have also demanded a ban on advertising alcohol.
Too easy: Prof Eileen Kaner from Newcastle University said the government had to be bolder about tackling cheap alcoholl

In Europe, alcohol consumption is more than twice the global average and it represents the biggest addiction in the UK, greater than any illegal drug or gambling.

(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 05/21/12) dailymail.co.uk, 05/16/12

Alcoholic drinks will be banned at any event organized by the Russian delegation in which athletes or delegation officials participate, Kommersant reported, citing information from the minutes of a meeting led by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, the official in charge of the team’s trip to London.
Kozak representative Ilya Dzhus confirmed the information to Kommersant. „Olympic values are not commensurate with using alcohol,“ he said.

The ban applies to the Russian Olympic Committee, the Sochi 2014 organizing committee, the All-Russian Association of Summer Olympic Sports and the company Bosco di Ciliegi, the official outfitter of the Olympic team.

But a federal official in the meeting with Kozak suggested that organizers can make alcoholic beverages available at parties for their corporate clients and sponsors, as long as athletes or members of the official delegation do not participate. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 05/21/12) The Moscow Times, 22 May 2012

Starting this weekend, the Long Island Rail Road is banning alcohol on overnight weekend trains out of Penn Station. The pilot program is an effort to curb disorderly passengers and attacks on train crew members.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 05/21/12) nbcnewyork.com, 05/19/12

The Tories are urging legal action against minimum alcohol pricing, despite supporting the Scottish Government plan.
The party wants other EU states to challenge the policy to ensure a quick decision on whether it meets free trade rules.
The Alcohol Minimum Pricing Bill will enforce a 50p per unit floor price on units of alcohol, pushing up the cost of cheaper, stronger drinks.
The bill is expected to clear the final parliamentary hurdle in a vote at Holyrood on Thursday.
Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: „This is not an attempt to thwart the Bill but rather to ensure that every effort is made to determine whether the measure is legal.“
His party agreed to back the policy after securing a voluntary commitment by the Scottish Government to notify the European Commission (EC) of its plan.
The EC might not give a ruling unless there is a challenge from one of the 27 EU member states, said Mr Carlaw. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 05/21/12) news.stv.tv, 05/20/12

INVITED SEMINAR, 23 FEBRUARY 2012, LONDON by Rand Corp.
PROVISIONAL SCOPE AND PURPOSE
In the context of growing policy interest in pricing policy as a tool to address alcohol harms, researchers from the European Commission co-financed by the ALICE RAP project1 and RAND Corporation, organised an invitation-only meeting of policy-makers and researchers working on alcohol pricing and related issues.
The meeting aimed to address some of the specific questions policy-makers in the UK are confronting as they consider policy options. With a focus on excise taxation, minimum pricing, restrictions on promotions and discounts, and bans on below cost sales, some of the specific questions for discussion included:
· the implications of the various policy options for different segments of the population;
· the impact of different policies on fiscal revenue;
· pass-through from tax changes to consumer prices;
· the effects of pricing approaches on the use of other substances like tobacco and illicit drugs, illegal alcohol consumption, cross-border trade, etc.
· the difference for on- and off-trade sales of different pricing policies. ….
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/18/12) alicerap.eu