NAD
Editorial
NAD
Proposed abolition of the Icelandic alcohol
monopoly – not for the Public Good
SVEINBJÖRN KRISTJÁNSSON & RAFN M. JÓNSSON
Sales and distribution of alcohol create employment and produce
rather substantial profits for both businesses and governments. Preventive
actions to reduce the harmful use of alcohol are at times considered to be
in conflict with the free market and people’s choice, while also harming
trade and industry interests and reducing government income as tax revenue. Politicians face an obvious challenge in trying to reconcile parallel and
conflicting goals: not only are they to maintain and implement government
alcohol prevention policies, but they should also engender economic gains.
Iceland has a long tradition of restrictive alcohol policies and recently
published a comprehensive policy on alcohol and drugs. One of the main
goals of the policy is to restrict access to alcohol and other drugs. The alcohol monopoly has been managed by the State Alcohol and Tobacco Company (ATVR) since 1922 and is under the Ministry of Finance. After Iceland
joined the European Economic Area in 1994, the monopoly had to abolish most of its other monopolies, including the production of alcohol and
wholesale trade to on-premise establishments, but not the off-premise retail
sales of alcohol. There has been a marked trend towards liberalised alcohol
policy in Iceland, leading to changes such as an increase in the number of
alcohol retails shops and longer opening hours, internet service and free
home delivery for customers living more than 25 kilometres from an outlet.
Since 1990, the number of outlets has increased from 26 to 49. One of the
main objectives of the retail monopolies has been, and continues to be, to
reduce individual and social harm due to alcohol consumption. With better
services and changed image the State monopoly has increased its participation in preventive actions and put more emphasis on social responsibility.
Members of several political parties and trading associations have for
decades debated that Iceland should abolish the state monopoly of alcohol.
Since the millennium, some ten bills with this content have been proposed
in the Icelandic parliament. Initially, it was usually proposed that only wine
and beer should be sold in general retail stores, but in 2014 and now in October 2015 the proposition is to abolish the state monopoly completely and
to legalise sales of all alcohol, beer, wine and spirits in general retail stores.
The main arguments are freedom of trade and regional interests: to support
the trade in small villages around the country. It is also argued that it is not
the role of governments to conduct retail but to regulate and control it if
necessary. The role of the private sector is to sell products and services in accordance with the rules set by the government. This view applies to alcohol
and other consumer goods alike.
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Editorial
According to the proposed bill, licences
will be required from the municipalities for
sale of alcohol. There would be some restrictions, such as the time of sale and placement
and surveillance of spirits. Although you
have to be 20 years old to purchase alcohol,
the age limit for selling is proposed to be only
18. This can be tricky because many employees in general retail shops are teenagers. It is
likely that the quality of age limit controls
would decrease. Several mystery-shopping
trials have shown that Icelandic teenagers are
able to buy tobacco in grocery stores despite
the age limit of 18 years.
The bill has been proposed by 17 parliamentarians from four different political parties.
The bill is now up for a first-round discussion
before being sent to a parliamentary working
committee. A number of organisations support the bill, including the Iceland Chamber
of Commerce, Business Iceland (employers’
organisation), Federation of Trade & Service,
Scotch Whisky Association, Federation of
Icelandic Industries, Icelandic Competition
Authority, The Icelandic Travel Industry Association, and Costco Wholesale Corporation.
Scientific evidence shows that best practices in preventing alcohol-related harm in a
population include nontrivial alcohol taxes
and minimum physical availability of alcohol, i.e. minimum purchase age, government
monopoly and a restriction on the density of
retail outlets and times of sale. The Icelandic
state alcohol monopoly can therefore serve an
important role in a general harm reduction
strategy, as it inherently has limited locations
and opening hours, as well as a structural and
relatively easily monitored legal obligation to
follow regulations such as not serving intoxicated or underage persons.
Several bodies have warned against approving the bill. These include The Directorate of
Health, Icelandic Medical Association, The
Icelandic Nurses’ Association, Government
Agency for Child Protection, City of Reykja-
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vik, IOGT Iceland and most associations for
public health and welfare. In addition, the Directorate of Health received a letter from the
WHO office in Europe stating concern over
the proposal.
According to recent surveys, the majority
of the Icelandic public are satisfied with the
monopoly of alcohol and the alcohol policy
in general. Furthermore, in a Gallup poll conducted in October 2015, more than two thirds
of Icelanders aged 18 and older are against
and only 20% in favour of selling all alcohol
beverages in general stores and abolishing the
State monopoly.
It is no surprise that the bodies or forces
that argue for the bill are those that see economic gain, while those who are against are
organisations which stand for better health
and well-being of individuals and society as
a whole.
If the proposal is adopted, it may have a
huge impact on Icelandic society and individual health and well-being. It could also
influence the alcohol policies of other Nordic countries. The Nordic governments agree
with the proposals of the Nordic Council Welfare Committee that public health should be
promoted also in the area of alcohol policy.
Nordic alcohol policies are among the strictest in the world (barring some Muslim countries) and their effectiveness to minimise the
harm of alcohol consumption is well established by research.
Alcohol consumption is low in Iceland
compared with other European countries, and
studies have ranked Icelandic adolescents
among the lowest consumers of alcohol in Europe. This is yet another reason – on top of
the ones listed above – not to tamper with the
important control measures that are intrinsic
in State monopolies of alcohol.
REFERENCES
Fræðslu og forvarnir (2015). Fleiri andvígir en
fylgjandi sölu áfengis í matvöruverslunum
[More opposed than in favor of the sale
of alcohol in supermarkets]. Retrieved 11
12, 2015, from http://forvarnir.is/page/
frae_ein_frett&detail=14384
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