Alcohol advertising report released

The current regulatory framework for alcohol advertising should undergo a comprehensive review, the Health Committee has recommended.

The committee today presented to the House its report on the petition of Dr Viola Palmer and 2,869 others, which requests that the House of Representatives recommend an inquiry by the Health Committee into the effects of alcohol promotion, especially advertising and sponsorship. The committee has not recommended that a select committee inquiry into the effects of alcohol promotion be undertaken at this time.

“We are aware that a number of reviews have looked at alcohol advertising during the past decade. We felt that a Government review would be the appropriate way to bring this work together and look at the big picture,” committee chairperson Steve Chadwick said. The committee recommends that a thorough and comprehensive review of the regulation framework for alcohol advertising needs to be undertaken to define an appropriate method of regulation.

“We are very concerned that alcohol advertising may be targeting a youth market and this issue needs to be considered in a review of the alcohol advertising regulation framework,” Steve Chadwick.

The committee shares the petitioner’s concern that alcohol advertising may increase alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm. “Unfortunately, the reality is that we live in a society that accepts, tolerates, and glamourises alcohol consumption,” Mrs Chadwick said. “This is why we recommend that research on the drinking habits of New Zealanders needs to continue, to assist and guide effective regulation of alcohol advertising.”

The committee is also concerned that the Advertising Standards Authority has no punitive powers, and is not accountable to other entities. “We consider that these matters should also be considered in a review of the current regulatory framework of alcohol advertising,” Mrs Chadwick said.

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