European commission - Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC). The Information Day about the 2009 Calls for proposals will be held in Luxembourg on 18 March 2009.

Voluntary actions made by members of the European Alcohol and Health Forum can now be viewed on an online database on the DG Sanco Website.

DG SANCO continues its discussions on sexual health for young people and has invited stakeholders to send their expressions of interest to participate in the ongoing debate.

Eurocare was very pleased to see the amendments tabled by Dorette Corbey (shadow rapporteur for the socialists) to the Commission’s proposal on food information to consumers.

The Council of the EU has adopted a new directive on excise duties (COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2008/118/EC
of 16 December 2008). The new directive does not allow private individuals to have the goods transported on their behalf. The maximum amount of alcohol that can be brought in without paying taxes remains the same.

Following consultations with its members and other Public Health Organisations and experts, Eurocare (an Alliance of some 50 organizations working for the prevention and reduction of alcohol-related harm) has sent out to the Members of the ENVI Committee of the European Parliament its suggested amendments to the proposal on food information to consumers.

Eurocare has called upon all members in the ENVI Committee to protect the health and safety of consumers and to promote their right to information by removing the exemption of beer, wine and spirits, from the requirement to bear a list of ingredients and nutritional values that apply to the rest of foodstuffs.

As part of the preparatory work for the release of a Global Strategy to reduce alcohol related harm, the WHO held a round table meeting with NGOs and health professionals on 24-25 November.

During that meeting, the WHO secretariat suggested that NGOs interested in the process leading up to a Global Alcohol Strategy, get together on an information/communication platform with the aim of facilitating the communication between WHO and NGOs on ways to reduce alcohol related harm.

A University of Sheffield report shows that policies which lead to price increases reduce alcohol consumption and can have significant effects on reducing alcohol-related harm. The report was commissioned by the Department of Health to help Government Ministers decide future alcohol policy,

Brussels, 1 December 2008. New rules have come into force that will now allow travellers entering the EU from third countries to import duty free in their personal luggage larger amounts of alcohol.

The third Plenary Meeting of the European Commission's Alcohol and Health Forum, took place on 13th November 2008.

The full report as well as presentations given during the meeting can be found here