Alcohol Action Ireland’s Post

*UPDATE: THE DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO 14 FEBRUARY 2025* Have you submitted your comments on National Treasury's Taxation of Alcoholic Beverages review? Submissions close soon! Submitting your comments is an opportunity to: 🔵 Help reduce alcohol-related harms like binge drinking and road accidents, nationwide. 🔵 Ensure that the proposed changes are fair, impactful and align with public health goals. To learn more about Treausry's proposed changes, and to submit your comments, visit: https://loom.ly/awpf3yE Hurry! Submissions close on 13 December 2024. Email your comments to 2024Alcoholreview@treasury.gov.za by the deadline. #DGMT #AlcoholHarms #NationalTreasury

It is finally December! We are looking forward to rest and family time. December is also a time when alcohol consumption goes up, leading to: GBV, motor vehicle accidents and interpersonal violence. You have the opportunity to have your voice heard to reduce alcohol consumption. An opportunity to do your bit to make SA better. I just made my submission to treasury and so can you! Read below, to learn more about treasury’s proposed changes to its alcohol policy and how to make your opinion heard.

Fabulous news for Scotch and HMRC, which is beginning to be a bit more transparent. However, it's not helping 'the person in the street' to know: just how vast is The Scotch Whisky Industry? As Scotch Whisky Tourism alone is now really taking off, it will attract MILLIONS of EXTRA visitors (and therefore, hundreds of £millions). We need to be ready AND properly funded, to train our Scottish people properly and promote it, with a cohesive strategy. What we need to know NOW is: * How many Casks are maturing in Scotland? It's way more than the 'about 20 million' we are told. * How much Tax, (in total) does the Scotch Whisky Industry contribute to UK coffers? Not a convoluted figure of 'contribution' or 'potential jobs', an actual, real figure. How much does each Distillery contribute? Why is this figure so difficult/impossible to impart, to the average Scot? * Scotch is 25% of ALL UK Food and Drink Exports, why is Scotland so skint? * When are we getting a Scotch Whisky Minister, in Holyrood? Question Time! #ScotchWhiskyTruths

Following yesterday's #Budget announcement, we received an update on the future of #Alcohol Duty Stamps. As you may be aware, as part of the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced that alcohol duty will be frozen until 1st February 2025, freezing #duty for a further six months, to support the hospitality sector and help consumers with the cost of living. In a follow-up email, from #HMRC, we were informed that the government has also announced its intention to end the Alcohol #DutyStamps Scheme as it applies to certain #spirits and stronger alcoholic products. The #government will be publishing a draft #legislation later in the year to achieve this. Further #updates on this will follow. https://lnkd.in/eguQJJJ3

Against strong recommendations from Māori organisations and global public health authorities, on 28 February, the incoming Aotearoa New Zealand coalition government repealed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2020 (the smokefree Act). This world-first legislation, passed in December 2022 by the previous government, aimed to achieve a “tobacco endgame” by rapidly reducing smoking rates to minimum levels (< 5%) for all population groups (both Māori and non-Māori). The legislation was the result of decades of Māori leadership and the work of generations of tobacco-control researchers and advocates in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally. Read the article: https://ow.ly/22kg50RkPpo

📣 New evidence from the assessment of Estonia’s alcohol control policies indicates clearly that changes in alcohol excise taxation do not only impact the level of alcohol consumption and health but are also linked to tax revenues. 💰 Raising excise taxes is one of WHO’s Best Buys for alcohol control, meaning that they are the most effective and cost-effective interventions that governments can implement to reduce alcohol consumption. 🌍 With alcohol being one of the major risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), governments in the WHO European Region need to act now to fulfil their commitments to achieving the NCD targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). #AlcoholPolicy #Estonia #PublicHealth #HealthPolicy #AlcoholTaxes

"In a letter from 58 firms [UK wine producers and retailers] have 'urged' the next government to 'commit' to making the temporary easement for wine between 11.5-14.5% permanent, ahead of its planned expiry on 1st February 2025." (see https://lnkd.in/dMMpc-yP) AR Sticking with the flat tax per bottle, which effectively places alcohol tax on water in lower strength wine, would harm sections of the wine industry which have already created products tailored to benefit from the forthcoming tax changes. (see https://lnkd.in/dw84kUih) It would also reverse one of the few measures the last government took which may curb the UK's record levels of alcohol deaths. In Labour's manifesto it pledges to prioritise preventative action against the UK's biggest killers. Alcohol is one of them. https://lnkd.in/d5j8rnEg Any new government will face strained public finances. Charging a tax on a health harming product more effectively can help by delivering higher revenues while reducing health, social services and criminal justice costs, part of an economic burden of up to £35bn a year.

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt today extended the real-terms cut on alcohol duty for six months, despite being told a tax rise would be among the most effective policies to combat the country's record alcohol deaths. "This will make alcohol more affordability and will cost lives... Let's be clear, this is a tax cut for the multinational alcohol industry, meaning the government has chosen big business over the taxpayer," said the Institute Of Alcohol Studies. "Yet again a Chancellor who freezes duty (cutting it in real terms) on the basis of it helping pubs. It doesn’t. It helps supermarkets," commented alcohol expert Colin Angus. Duty is a far higher proportion of alcohol product prices in shops than in hospitality, meaning a cut in duty reduces their prices more. An alcohol duty cut likely to mean larger volumes of alcohol are sold and drunk in total, and more often in riskier unsupervised environments.

Alcohol taxes play a crucial role in reducing alcohol consumption and related harms, but they remain the least-used policy instrument globally and in the WHO European Region. The WHO/Europe webinar on 24 May 2024 explored the "𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬". This webinar had active participation from experts, EVID-ACTION networks, Member States, youth networks and early career researchers. The key observations were that: · In the WHO European Region, about 𝟓𝟎% of Member States have no or zero tax on wine, while at least 𝟒𝟗 Member States apply national excise taxes on beer and spirits. · By increasing the price of alcohol, 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, especially among specific groups such as 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. · Alcohol taxes not only save lives and prevent social problems: they also promote 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 and generate 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞. · Due to the low level of taxation, alcoholic beverages in the EU 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 compared to regional averages. The panellists provided insights on the need for coordinated efforts in shaping tax policies and considering cross-border aspects, drawing lessons from the Baltic experience. 👉𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧: bit.ly/3Kfj7Td #AlcoholTaxes #PublicHealth #EVIDACTION

Following years of inaction on alcohol policy, yesterday’s Budget signals a welcome step-change. One that shifts focus towards improving the nation’s health and prosperity and away from the self-serving interests of the alcohol lobby. Here, Richard Piper Alcohol Change UK provides his reflections to LBC on the #alcoholduty announcements in yesterday's #AutumnBudget. The key message? It's a step in the right direction, but more is needed to offset the social and economic cost of #alcoholharm. https://lnkd.in/e6qggbAM