Alcohol Action Ireland’s ‘grooming’ comments “misinformed” & “sensational” – ABFI
The Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland has described claims by Alcohol Action Ireland that the drinks industry is ‘grooming’ the next generation of drinkers through sponsorship, as “misinformed” and “sensational”.
Print17 April 2013
In a statement, ABFI Director Kathryn D’Arcy explained that, “Misinformed, sensational language – such as the comments made by Alcohol Action Ireland today – undermines the debate on alcohol sponsorship and undermines the 62,000 people working in a legitimate industry. The claims made by Alcohol Action Ireland of ‘Ireland’s runaway drinking’ stating that we are the ‘heaviest drinkers on earth’ are simply incorrect”.
Alcohol consumption in this country has fallen by over 19% since 2001 (see Drinks Industry Ireland, current April issue, pages 28 & 29 and leader on page 4) and is fast approaching European norms. The recent Department of Children and Youth Affairs State of the Nation’s Children report shows that the number of young people stating they have never had an alcoholic drink has increased by 35 per cent in the past eight years, she pointed out.
“Last week’s UNICEF report found the percentage of young people who reported having been drunk on more than two occasions has fallen in Ireland and in a detailed survey of 29 countries, Ireland is at average levels.
“Alcohol Action Ireland also claims that Ireland has ‘ridiculously lax advertising and sponsorship guidelines’” she continued, “again this is simply not true. Ireland is one of the most tightly-regulated systems in the world.”
The drinks industry here must adhere to statutory advertising regulations such as the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Broadcasting Act 2001. In addition, the industry is signatory to voluntary codes which are monitored by the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland and the Alcohol Marketing and Communications Monitoring Board which includes the Department of Health, which strictly control how, where and when its products are advertised.
As a further layer of compliance, the alcohol industry established Central Copy Clearance Ireland (CCCI) in 2003. Under this initiative alcohol companies must submit all alcohol advertisements appearing on any media format for pre-vetting.
“The reality is that the drinks industry has invested more than €20 million in the past six years to fund the highly visible and effective drinkaware.ie campaign – the single biggest formal initiative ever undertaken to begin to change attitudes to alcohol misuse in this country,” said Kathryn D’Arcy, “We are fully committed to making it even stronger and more inclusive.
“While we welcome the reduction in numbers of young people drinking, the industry wants to go further to ensure that the issue of underage drinking is addressed in an informed and balanced manner. To this end, the industry has proposed a four-point plan to Government to address alcohol misuse, including a Government-backed single Code of Practice for alcohol marketing, promotion, sponsorship, supply and sale of alcohol; the expansion of a multi-stakeholder programme of consumer education and information campaigns to effect attitudinal and behavioural change, delivered through drinkaware.ie and the introduction of Irish unit information and pregnancy advice labels on pre-packaged alcohol products.
“A wide stakeholder response to alcohol misuse in this country is what is required, rather than sensational language and misinformation,” she concluded.
Read the editor’s opinion on this topic at http://www.drinksindustryireland.ie/article.aspx?id=3886
“A wide stakeholder response to alcohol misuse in this country is what is required, rather than sensational language and misinformation” – ABFI’s Kathryn D’Arcy.
Related Articles
The Busker debuts small batch Single Pot Still Whiskey →
Slainté: Tradition in a bottle! →
Pour Yourself a Glass of New Zealand →
Fans 0
Followers