Review on advertising regulation

The New Zealand Drug Foundation welcomes this review. This review is particularly important as it comes at a time when this country is debating how best to tackle our drinking culture, and regionally and internationally there is increasing concern about the impact of alcohol on communities and the role marketing plays in that.

The Drug Foundation considers the following to be the most important issues the review must consider and address:

• The influence of liquor advertising and marketing on New Zealand's drinking culture
• The weaknesses of voluntary industry codes, and how the Government can reclaim policy and regulatory control over liquor advertising, and
• Additional ways alcohol is promoted including through sponsorship of sports and cultural events, and new forms of marketing and promotion, and ways these forms of promotion can be regulated.

Our submission makes comment on each of the above points. We conclude with specific recommendations and a proposal for a way forward through a new framework for the regulation of liquor marketing.