By Martin Banks - 10th September 2009
A new report says the restrictive Swedish alcohol policy with high prices and taxes for alcohol has failed to meet the claimed objective of reducing alcohol consumption and excessive drinking patterns.
The report, commissioned by Brussels-based Brewers of Europe, which represents the brewing industry, claims that the availability of alcohol to young people is "greater than ever before" and criminal organisations have now gained a hold on alcohol distribution.
"This makes the situation untenable," said the report, conducted by the Swedish Retail Institute. To say that the Swedish authorities have lost control over a large part of the alcohol trade is, thus, hardly an exaggeration," it adds.
The report says that the Swedish alcohol policy generates, via high alcohol taxes, "significant" assets for the Swedish public treasury. "But as an instrument for keeping alcohol consumption low, the trends in recent years show that it has not succeeded," it says.
Brewers of Europe secretary general, Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem, said, “The findings on the approach adopted by Sweden show that it has often resulted in a black market being created where huge quantities of imported alcohol are resold for far below the normal Swedish market price.
"The report concludes that the Swedish authorities have basically lost control over a large part of the alcohol trade and that this, in combination with the fact that the availability of alcohol to young people in Sweden is greater than ever before, makes the situation and policy questionable.
"Interestingly enough, the very significant increase in overall alcohol consumption in Sweden over the last 15 years, that is, up 30 per cent, has not lead to the same extent to negative health effects as claimed by proponents of the 'lower consumption equals lower-risk theory'. This to us in the brewing sector proves again that lowering overall consumption as a means to reducing harm is not a sustainable strategy."
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