University of Helsinki
Finland is renewing its alcohol act. The government has presented its proposal to the Parliament. It is now being considered and negotiated by the help of expertise hearings. One of these experts is Anu Katainen, university researcher and leader of the Online Marketing of Alcohol– project: “The proposal for the new alcohol act may put an end to the decreasing trend in under-age alcohol consumption which has been continuing for almost two decades now”, she says.
What do you think are good suggestions, and which ones may entail challenges?
– The proposed law would be a big change of the Finnish alcohol policy, says Katainen.
Katainen explains that there has been a general agreement among experts that the law should be updated, but it has taken years to draft the proposal. There are several regulations in the current law relating to the licensing of the serving of alcoholic beverages as well as licensed premises that do not meet the current requirements for catering businesses. The new law would give the restaurants permission to serve alcoholic drinks on shared premises, such as in food court type of restaurant areas or terraces.
-Many of the proposed changes would increase availability of alcohol in Finland, explains Katainen. The biggest changes are that the limit of alcoholic content of beverages sold in grocery shops would rise from 4,7 to 5,5 per cent and so called alcopops would be available in grocery stores.
-Furthermore, the new law would widen the opening hours for the monopoly stores and restaurants and bars would not need a separate permission to keep open until 4 a.m. Restaurants and bars could also sell takeaway drinks with an alcoholic content less than 5,5 per cent of alcohol.
How do you look at the suggestion with the increased availability of products in this segment?
-In the suggested version, the new law would increase alcohol consumption in Finland. The National Institute for Health and Welfare has cautiously estimated that the consumption would increase approximately 5 per cent, but the rise can be steeper without a simultaneous tax increase, says Katainen and refers to evidence from similar availability changes:
-It is well established in the existing research that increase in consumption leads to an increase in alcohol-related harm. According to the estimation of The National Institute for Health and Welfare the 5 per cent increase would mean 150 extra alcohol-related deaths per year, not to mention other negative outcomes to health and security.
Katainen sees that it is fortunate that the government is also planning to increase the alcohol tax:
– Yet, a better solution from the perspective of public health would be to keep the limit of alcoholic content in grocery stores as it is and keep the alcopops in Alko only, says Katainen.
How are questions that concern under-aged alcohol consumption taken into account in the government proposal for new alcohol act?
– It seems that minors have not been considered in the planning of the proposal. The proposal does mention possible negative effects of the increasing availability to minors, but these risks have not been taken sufficiently into account when drafting the proposal. Rather, it seems that the proposal would mostly benefit the alcohol industry, says Katainen.
What is especially worrying in relation to minors is, according to Katainen, that alcopops and new beverages would be most likely targeted at young people:
-Finnish minors consume alcohol mostly in the form of beer, cider and long-drinks available in supermarkets. While the controlling of the age limit is stricter in Alko, it is likely that the stronger drinks would become more available for minors. It also seems probable that alcohol-related harm will increase among minors when the drinks they favor become stronger. As a whole, the proposal for the new alcohol act may put an end to the decreasing trend in under-age alcohol consumption which has been continuing for almost two decades now.