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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 21 July 2000, Official Report, columns 362-63W, (1) if he will assess the impact of the controls added to the drinks industry's code of practice on the merchandising and packaging of alcoholic drinks; [134074] (2) about merchandising and packaging of alcoholic drinks, if he will assess the impact of the measures the drinks industry is taking to ensure alcohol is made less accessible to children. [134072] Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Portman Group's Code of Practice, which is supported by the overwhelming majority of companies involved in the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks, has provided real and substantial benefits. The numbers of complaints and upheld complaints have both fallen; the findings of the independent panel, set up by the Group to consider complaints of breaches of the code, have enjoyed a high degree of compliance; and the Group's system of Retailer Alert Bulletins, advising retailers not to stock offending products in their original packaging, has reduced their availability to the public. Other industry initiatives, including the development and distribution of proof of age cards, should be commended. Nevertheless, it is a cause for great concern that, as separate research studies show, large numbers of children under 18 are able to buy alcohol, both in pubs and in retail outlets. It is for this reason that we have strongly supported the provisions strengthening the law on under-age sales included in the Private Member's Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Mr. Truswell); and that we have proposed to bring forward further measures to deal with the problem, including the test purchasing of alcohol, as set out in our White Paper "Time for Reform".

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

355 c44W; 134074;134072

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Children Codes of practice Alcoholic drinks Identity cards Packaging Licensing laws Marketing Young people Retail trade

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk