Spirits producers in sensible drinking pledge

Published: 17 November, 2010

European spirits producers have pledged to step up their efforts to promote sensible drinking.

The industry's trade body, CEPS, has published a series of new commitments it says will be met by its members across the EU by the end of 2015.

Pledges in the "roadmap" include placing responsible drinking messages on product labels, linking wherever possible to a national consumer information website; and implementing at least two new awareness and education programmes per country on issues ranging from alcohol and pregnancy to drink driving and alcohol and youth.

Such programmes should be "bigger and better than before", CEPS said, as well as being "nationwide, developed in partnership, sustained for at least three years and independently evaluated".

Stefano Fresi, chairman of the CEPS alcohol and society committee and director of external affairs at Bacardi-Martini, said: "Our industry has been a leading force in the promotion of responsible alcohol consumption since 2005, when the first CEPS Charter was adopted. We have made enormous achievements since then, so with this roadmap we want to raise the bar even higher.

"This extensive new commitment puts our sector at the forefront of industry action for responsible drinking. The roadmap takes a targeted approach, addressing specific types of alcohol misuse. This is underpinned by clear evidence that tackling misuse effectively requires tailored interventions, not blanket restrictions, which mostly impact moderate drinkers."

Printer friendly version