BII attacks KPMG alcohol report

Published: 01 August, 2008

The BII has finally responded to the KPMG report that criticised industry responsible drinking codes for being toothless.

The BII has finally responded to the KPMG report that criticised industry responsible drinking codes for being toothless.

John McNamara, chief executive of BII, the professional body for the licensed retail sector, expressed his anger and disappointment at the recently published findings of the KPMG study into the licensed trade's Social Responsibility Standards document.

Up until today, the BII had been the only trade body not to have commented on the report.

The report said the voluntary codes covering price promotions and packaging were "lacking impact and confusing". Auditors said the Government should make codes mandatory.

McNamara said: "As one of the signatories to the standards document, we take issue with the general conclusions drawn by the KPMG consultants that it is not working.

"The report is more 'tittle-tattle' than based on hard evidence and we are deeply disappointed at the anecdotal nature of the fieldwork and the lack of appreciation of the great strides we have taken."

He added that it ignored the many positive things that the industry is doing to promote social responsibility and the ways in which underage sales and other issues around the responsible serving of alcohol have been tackled.

Printer friendly version