Ireland faces fight at World Trade Organisation over alcohol warning law
“I understand that everybody in this room understands that it is a scientific fact that there is a link between alcohol and cancer, but we’ve had to fight to say that that is true.”
Ireland’s submission notifying the committee explained that the law was necessary due to “high volumes and harmful patterns of alcohol consumption” that meant alcohol caused an estimated 4.8 per cent of all Ireland’s deaths. So far the United States, the Dominican Republic and Cuba have declared they will make “comments” about the law, and several more countries are believed to have seconded their concerns.
The study, published in medical journal the Lancet, reviewed committee documents going back to 1995. It found that 10 countries that tried to put in place stricter alcohol labels were met with opposition from WTO members in the form of arguments used by the alcohol industry, including that moderate drinking is not a problem or is even beneficial to health.
Commission officials ideally want to standardise food and drink labels in the EU, but this is a long and hard fight as it divides member states. Plans for alcohol labelling are at an early stage; the commission is currently gathering evidence on whether such warnings are effective.
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