Big Alcohol Opposes Graphic Health Warnings for Thai Alcohol

Alcohol makers worldwide don’t want Thailand to set a precedent by requiring large, graphic warning labels on all wine, beer, and liquor sold there, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported Sept. 27.

If the Thai government approves the plan, 30 percent of every alcohol bottle’s surface would be covered by a label warning about health impacts. Pictures of diseased livers, a bloody traffic accident, a suicide, and a man hitting his wife have been proposed, along with text such as, “Alcohol consumption could harm yourself, children and family.”

[View the images: The graphic alcohol label warnings appear on Eurocare, the European Alcohol Policy Alliance, website. Viewer discretion recommended.] 

The labels first attracted attention when Thailand alerted other governments about them under a requirement of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Alcohol makers lobbied other governments to object, and Argentina, Australia, the European Union, and the United States, among others, did so at meetings of the WTO in March and June.

Alcohol makers said they were concerned about having to make special labels just for Thailand and about sending a signal that all alcohol consumption is dangerous. The U.S. also paid to have Thai officials travel to Washington, D.C. to discuss alternative approaches to the labels.

To be implemented, the proposal must be approved by two Thai government committees. One has already done so; the other is still studying it.

In 2005, Thailand was one of the first countries in the world to require similar graphic warning labels on packages of cigarettes. Britain, Malaysia, and other countries soon did the same. 

Despite public efforts to reduce drinking by Thais, the rate of those who regularly consume alcohol increased from 37 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in a recent survey. In Thailand, the costs of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related illness are double worldwide averages. 

“Whatever measures the liquor industry supports are ineffective,” said Samarn Futrakul, who directs Thailand's Alcohol Control Committee Office at the Ministry of Public Health. “Whatever they oppose turns out to be effective.”