Message 001
Communication from the Commission - TRIS/(2018) 00131
Directive (EU) 2015/1535
Notificación - Oznámení - Notifikation - Notifizierung - Teavitamine - Γνωστοποίηση - Notification - Notification - Notifica - Pieteikums - Pranešimas - Bejelentés - Notifika - Kennisgeving - Zawiadomienie - Notificação - Hlásenie-Obvestilo - Ilmoitus - Anmälan - Нотификация : 2018/0022/IRL - Notificare.
No abre el plazo - Nezahajuje odklady - Fristerne indledes ikke - Kein Fristbeginn - Viivituste perioodi ei avata - Καμμία έναρξη προθεσμίας - Does not open the delays - N'ouvre pas de délais - Non fa decorrere la mora - Neietekmē atlikšanu - Atidėjimai nepradedami - Nem nyitja meg a késéseket - Ma’ jiftaħx il-perijodi ta’ dawmien - Geen termijnbegin - Nie otwiera opóźnień - Não inicia o prazo - Neotvorí oneskorenia - Ne uvaja zamud - Määräaika ei ala tästä - Inleder ingen frist - Не се предвижда период на прекъсване - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare.
(MSG: 201800131.EN)
1. MSG 001 IND 2018 0022 IRL EN 19-01-2018 IRL NOTIF
2. IRL
3A. National Standards Authority of Ireland
1 Swift Square
Northwood
Santry
Dublin 9
D09 A0E4
Ireland
Tel: 00 353 (0)1 807 3854
Email: EUDirective2015.1535@nsai.ie
3B. Tobacco and Alcohol Control Unit
Room 4.13
Department of Health
Hawkins House
Hawkins Street
Dublin 2
4. 2018/0022/IRL - C50A
5. Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 (in so far as it relates to the 3 additional specifications to labelling, advertising and broadcast watershed).
6. The provisions of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill being notified relate to 3 additional specifications:
(i) the inclusion of an additional health warning for alcohol products and in advertisements for alcohol products. The text of the warning is "a warning that is intended to inform the public of the direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers".
(ii) a specification of the minimum proportion of printed material to be given to a health warning.
The existing provision provides that the Minister may prescribe the form of a warning including its size and colour and the size, colour and font type of the printed material on the warning. The amendment adds that "where at least one third of the printed material will be given over to evidence-based health warnings". When such Regualtions are being made, they will be notified to the Commission in draft form.
(iii) the introduction of a broadcast watershed for advertisements for alcohol products. The text of which is as follows "a person shall not broadcast, or cause to be broadcast, an advertisement for an alcohol product on a television programme service between the hours of 3.00 a.m. and 9.00p.m. A person shall not broadcast, or cause to be broadcast, an advertisement for an alcohol
product on a sound broadcasting services on a week-day between the hours of midnight and 10.00 a.m., or 3.00 p.m. and midnight."
7. - Directive 2000/13/EC on the labelling and presentation and advertising of foodstuffs
8. 3 additional specifications being notified:
Labels on alcohol products, websites where alcohol is sold online, and documents with kegs or casks must contain the additional cancer health warning. The text of the health warning is "a warning that is intended to inform the public of the direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers". (Section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill)
In addition, a minimum proportion of the printed material is being specified for health warnings.
The existing provision provides that the Minister may prescribe the form of a warning including its size and colour and the size, colour and font type of the printed material on the warning. The amendment adds that "where at least one third of the printed material will be given over to evidence-based health warnings". When such Regualtions are being made, they will be notified to the Commission in draft form. (Section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill).
Advertisements will also have to include the additional cancer health warning. The text of the health warning to be included is "a warning that is intended to inform the public of the direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers". (Section 13 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill)
Broadcast advertisements for alcohol products will be restricted to specified times based on the viewing and listening times of children. The text of which is as follows "a person shall not broadcast, or cause to be broadcast, an advertisement for an alcohol product on a television programme service between the hours of 3.00 a.m. and 9.00p.m. A person shall not broadcast, or cause to be broadcast, an advertisement for an alcohol product on a sound broadcasting services on a week-day between the hours of midnight and 10.00 a.m., or 3.00 p.m. and midnight. (Section 19 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill).
9. The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill aims to reduce alcohol consumption in Ireland to 9.1 litres per person per annum by 2020, and to reduce the harms associated with alcohol.
Cancer warning provision:
The World Health Organisation European Action Plan to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol (2012-2020) recommends that measures are taken to introduce a series of warning or information on labels on all alcoholic beverage containers.
There is irrefutable evidence that alcohol causes cancer and that there is a direct causal link between certain fatal cancers and alcohol misuse. In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that alcohol can be classified as a carcinogen to humans. According to the Health Research Board Report, “Alcohol in Ireland”, there is a causal link between alcohol and certain cancers: cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, oesophagus, liver, bowel and breast cancer in women.
In effect, alcohol is converted by our bodies into a toxic chemical (acetaldehyde) which can cause cancer by damaging our DNA and in turn prevents cells from repairing this damage. Alcohol can also increase hormone levels such as oestrogen which increases the risk of breast cancer
Alcohol is responsible for 1 in 8 breast cancers in Ireland. Of the 6,601 women who died of breast cancer, 10.5% of those cases were attributable to alcohol. 900 people are diagnosed with alcohol related cancers and around 500 people die from these diseases in Ireland every year.
All alcohol related cancers show evidence of a dose-response relationship. Drinking patterns matter and episodic drinking or binge drinking steadily increases cancer risks. According to a recent Central Statistics Office report, Ireland was found to have the highest rate of heavy episodic drinking in the EU in 2014. Heavy episodic drinking is defined as consuming the equivalent of 6 drinks on one occasion.
In the case of breast cancer, a Harvard study involving 320,000 women found that two or more drinks a day increased the chances of developing breast cancer by 43% which is an alarming risk increase.
Alcohol is one of the most preventable causes of cancer after smoking. The only way to reduce the risk of an alcohol-related cancer is to change how we drink and how much we drink. The first step towards achieving this is to raise public awareness of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer. This additional warning ensures that people are made aware of the cancer risks, among other associated risks linked with alcohol consumption.
Broadcast watershed provision:
The UK medical journal, “The Lancet” stated in an article in April 2017 that “The strongest evidence for the impact of advertising on alcohol consumption comes from reviews of longitudinal and cohort studies observing children. These studies report consistently that exposure to alcohol advertising is associated with an increased likelihood that children will start to drink or will drink greater quantities if they already do.”
2006 research on the Effects of Alcohol Advertising Exposure on Drinking Among Youth showed that for each additional advertisement that a young person saw above the monthly youth average of 23, he or she drank 1% more alcohol.
In the Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study in 2014, one fifth of Irish children reported that they had an alcoholic drink in the last 30 days and 1 in 10 children reported having been drunk in the last 30 days.
In the most recent European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs, 7 out of 10 of Irish 15-to-16 year olds had already drunk alcohol and more than 3 out of 10 had been drunk in the past. The same survey found that a quarter of Irish girls and nearly a fifth of Irish boys reported having been injured or involved in an accident due to alcohol.
Irish children and young people are continuously exposed to positive, risk-free images of alcohol and its use. The current regulatory system does not protect children from exposure to alcohol marketing and this failure is associated with increased consumption. The broadcast watershed and the other advertising provisions in the Bill are an attempt to change that position.
10. References of the Basic Texts: (i) Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2015/12015/b120b15s.pdf
(ii) The World Health Organisation European Action Plan to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol (2012-2020)
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/178163/E96726.pdf
(iii) Press release from the International Agency for Research on Cancer
https://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2007/pr175.html
(iv) “Alcohol in Ireland” - a Report by the Health Research Board
http://www.hrb.ie/uploads/tx_hrbpublications/Alcohol_in_Ireland_consumption_harm_cost_and_policy_response.pdf
(v) Steering Group Report on a National Substance Misuse Strategy 2012
http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Steering_Group_Report_NSMS.pdf
(vi) Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Bill
http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Appendix-IV-Regulatory-Impact-Analysis-RIA-Alcohol.pdf
Basic Texts have been forwarded within the framework of a previous notification: 2016/42/IRL
11. No
12. -
13. No
14. No
15. -
16. TBT aspect
Yes
SPS aspect
No - The draft is not a sanitary or phytosanitary measure
**********
European Commission
Contact point Directive (EU) 2015/1535
Fax: +32 229 98043
email: grow-dir2015-1535-central@ec.europa.eu
