 "'Unjustified, disproportionate barrier to trade': Cancer warnings on beer, wine in Ireland spark alarm")
Alcohol-producing nations are concerned that Ireland’s new health warnings, which are expected to be the strongest in the world for beer, wine, and spirits, may impede international trade.
According to a Bloomberg report, The US and Mexico have raised concerns over the legislation ahead of World Trade Organization committee meetings this week.
Argentina, Australia, Chile, Cuba and New Zealand have also expressed reservations about the law, which Ireland passed last month. While the European Commission gave Ireland the green light, at least nine wine and beer-producing member countries opposed the measure, added the report.
On 22 May, Irish health minister Stephen Donnelly signed the legislation and said he looked forward to other countries following the example.
Donnelly said the law would take effect from 22 May 2026 to give businesses time to adapt to a policy that mimics existing rules for other food and drink products.
“With that information, we can make an informed decision about our own alcohol consumption. Packaging of other food and drink products already contains health information and, where appropriate, health warnings. This law is bringing alcohol products into line with that,” The Guardian had quoted Donnelly as saying last month.
The labels will highlight the risk of liver disease, cancer and the risk of drinking while pregnant in big red letters on every container of alcoholic beverages.
The level of unease among alcohol producers reflects concerns that they could be targeted like the cigarette industry, where warnings have evolved into graphic pictures of tobacco-related diseases.
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View AllColdiretti, Italy’s largest farmers association, said Ireland’s planned alcohol labels are “alarmist” and set a “dangerous precedent.”
The European Committee of Wine Companies said that the warnings create an “unjustified and disproportionate barrier to trade.”
Unrepentant on warnings
Donnelly, however, is unrepentant on the warnings.
“The vast majority of people are not aware of these risks,” Bloomberg report quoted him as saying to national broadcaster RTÉ.
“If the industry is saying, ‘will you not just wait a little bit longer,’ the answer is a flat no,” he added.
In February, nine countries including France, Italy and Spain had sent the European Commission a letter asking that the European Commission check the legality of Ireland’s law.
“It creates a harmful precedent for the free movement of products in the various member states of the European Union,” Bloomberg quoted the nine countries as saying in the letter. The other nations were Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia, Portugal and Hungary.
There is no safe amount of alcohol consumption that does not affect health, according to the World Health Organization. Alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer, including the most common cancer types, such as bowel cancer and female breast cancer, according to the agency.
Frank Murray, a consultant hepatologist and chairman of Alcohol Action Ireland, said the evidence linking alcohol to cancer, drinking during pregnancy and liver damage is clear.
“That’s really important because they are three unquestionable harms that alcohol causes,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Ireland ranked 20th for alcohol consumption
Ireland ranked 20th out of 48 countries for alcohol consumption, as measured by the OECD based on preliminary 2021 data.
In 2019, almost one in every 20 deaths was attributable to alcohol, while light to moderate drinking levels caused almost 23,000 new cancer cases in 2017, according to the Department of Health.
Ireland has a reputation for being a trailblazer in health issues. In 2004, the country became the first to ban smoking in workplaces, bars and restaurants. The move was highly controversial at the time, but has been followed across Europe and in many other countries.
With inputs from agencies
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