Partners for responsible
consumption
Heineken is one of the driving forces behind the
Global Actions on Harmful Drinking. This industry
platform tackles harmful drinking through
a combination of global and local actions in
17 countries and the Caribbean. The work is being
implemented by the International Centre for
Alcohol Policies (ICAP).
According to ICAP Vice President Brett Bivans,
ICAP combines policy development and research
with designing and implementing programmes in
partnership with local authorities. For the 2010-2012
period the work focuses on non-commercial alcohol,
self-regulation, and drink driving.
Non-commercial alcohol refers to traditional drinks
produced for home consumption or local trade,
unregistered and counterfeit products, and 'surrogate'
alcohol. These evade taxation and formal quality
checks, and may pose a public health hazard.
The self-regulation work aims to ensure that alcohol
marketing is responsible and does not encourage
excessive or irresponsible drinking, particularly
among young adults. In 2010 in Rwanda, ICAP was
asked to review the draft Beer Code and met with
Heineken-owned Bralirwa and the Ministry of Health,
in Vietnam, guidelines for the Vietnam Beer Industry
on Responsible Commercial Communications were
launched in May.
In Nigeria, a new advertising code came into effect
that includes provisions for responsible marketing
communications about alcoholic beverages. The
code was developed in 2009 by ICAP, local brewers
including Heineken and the Advertising Practitioners
Council of Nigeria (APCON).
In 2010, ICAP agreed with APCON on a programme for
the 2011-2012 period that builds on the new code.
"We are going to set up a compliance monitoring
process, so all advertising will be examined for
responsible communication. We also intend to set
up a number of training programmes," says Brett.
Drink driving, a leading contributor to road fatalities,
is the third area of focus. In Russia, ICAP met with
industry sponsors and the Ministry of Interior, and
assessed that the Horeca environment would strongly
support a drink driving programme. In Vietnam, ICAP
assessed the drink driving situation and organised
a launch event in Hanoi with the National Traffic
Safety Committee.
In Nigeria, ICAP reached an agreement with the
Federal Road Safety Commission to work together
against drink driving. ICAP also commissioned
an assessment report that indicates which parts
of Nigeria are best for setting up a two-year road
safety programme.
Brett explains that this report allows us to make the
best possible use of our resources. Local governments
will organise the programme and we will provide
seed funding for the planning and evaluation of the
projects. Uniquely, this approach provides training
to establish a professional road safety culture and
enables that knowledge to be put into practice.
