Third meeting of the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action

The summary report and presentations made at the third meeting of the Committee, held on 13-14 October 2008 in Luxembourg, has now been published on the DG Sanco website:

The main points discussed during the meeting were:

Labelling

It seems that the French example (of the pictogram) has stimulated the debate on the topic across the EU. At least two Member States, Finland and Poland, have started the process of introducing legally binding labelling, but have not succeeded for various reasons. In addition, the UK Department of Health consultation describes that the results of the voluntary agreement between the DOH and the alcohol industry so far are disappointing. One of the questions therefore is whether the Government should introduce legislation, in case progress in implementing the voluntary labelling scheme continues to be slow.

A tour de table showed that labelling is discussed in many Member States and that some Member States are considering legislative action. Information on (not) drinking during pregnancy seems to be the most frequently addressed issue, followed by information on drink-driving and more general messages on alcohol and health.

Some representatives drew attention to the fact that in their Member State health warning labels are required on alcohol advertisements. Health warning labels can be required legally or they can be introduced on a voluntary basis. The latter was referred to by the representatives of Germany and Norway. The German representative showed an example of health warning labels, voluntarily introduced by the German brewers.

The Commission services added that within the European Alcohol and Health Forum, Pernod Ricard has committed itself to include the French pregnancy logo on the back of all its spirits and wine brands sold in the EU-27 countries.

In response to the contributions, the Commission services remarked that discussions on introducing health warning labels tend to focus on the effectiveness of the labels. The question of effectiveness could be divided in at least 3 sub questions, regarding the impact of labels on: knowledge, attitudes and intentions and behaviour (e.g. not drinking during pregnancy). An overview of the existing research and evidence is presented in Consumer Labelling and Alcoholic Drinks, a report by Peter Anderson (PHP project).

It is also important to realize, as litigation in France has shown, that producers have a legal obligation to inform consumers on inherent risks in a product, 'where such risks are not immediately obvious without adequate warnings' (Directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety).

Data Collection European Commission/WHO

The Swedish representative informed the meeting about the joint WHO/EC questionnaire, which was already on the agenda of the last meeting of the Committee. She repeated that the questionnaire consists of three parts: consumption (patterns), alcohol related harm (indicators) and policy development.

She pointed out that there are limited data on social harm. So far, 31 out 54 Members States of the European region of WHO have completed the form (with higher response rates from EU Member States). The data received will be used for:

WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol (autumn 2009)

WHO Information System on Alcohol (GISA) > basis for the WHO regional reports (autumn 2009)

First progress report on the EU Alcohol Strategy (second half 2009)

Affordability of alcoholic beverages within the EU

Gary Cox from the Scottish ministry of Justice started his presentation by briefly describing the scale of alcohol related harm in Scotland. On 1 September 2009 various regulations regarding price promotions, mainly relating to on-premise sales of alcohol, will come into force (e.g. a ban on 'happy hours'). A new set of regulations, relating to pricing and promotion, is currently discussed: e.g. the introduction of a minimum retail price for alcoholic beverages (linked to ABV), a ban on quantity discounts in off-premise sales, a ban on promotional materials on premises and separate alcohol display areas in stores.

Regarding the compatibility of minimum pricing with the EC Treaty, he said that he is confident that this measure would hold out legally.

Updates from the Commission Services

DG SANCO will publish a first progress report on the EU alcohol strategy in the second half of 2009, during the Swedish Presidency. The report will describe, among other things, the various structures put in place to implement the strategy. The interaction between EU and Member States level will be the most crucial part of the report.

Alcohol-related priorities under the Swedish Presidency

The Swedish representative set out the main alcohol-related objectives of Sweden during its Presidency in the second half of 2009. Sweden will organize three major events:

• Informal Ministerial Meeting in the first week of July
• Swedish Presidency ExpertMeeting ( Stockholm, 21-22 September), back to back with Global meeting on Alcohol, Health and Social development (23 September)
• Alcohol policy on the agenda of EPSCO in December 2009
  
  

The Swedish representative invited all members of the Committee to support the Presidency in its work.

First Global Expert meeting on Alcohol, Health and Social development

(Stockholm, 23 September 2009). The focus of the meeting will be on the impact of harmful use of alcohol on social development, as well as its contribution to spreading of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

With reference to the progress report on the EU alcohol strategy, the Swedish Presidency, WHO's work on the Global Strategy, as well as developments in Member States, the Chair suggested to convene three meetings of the Committee in 2009: in February, June/early July, and November.

The full report and presentations can be found here