Alcohol health labelling 'will add over a third to costs’

The Government agreed earlier last week to suspend the rollout of alcohol warning labels for two years.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin was lobbied by business representative group Ibec to delay the introduction of alcohol warning labels for ‘at least’ four years due to tariff fears.

Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy warned the Fianna Fáil leader that the new requirements would lead to packaging and labelling costs increasing by “over one-third”.

The letter also suggested that some distillers had even suspended brewing in fear of impending tariffs by the US administration.

Mr McCoy also sent the letter to Tánaiste and trade minister Simon Harris and health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill in early June.

The Government agreed earlier last week to suspend the rollout of warning labels for two years.

In May 2023, then health minister Stephen Donnelly signed the Public Health (Alcohol) (Labelling) Regulations 2023.

It was envisaged that the law would make it mandatory for alcohol product labels to state the calorie content and grams of alcohol in the product.

They would also warn about the risk of consuming alcohol when pregnant and about the risk of liver disease and fatal cancers from alcohol consumption.

The change was due to come into effect in May 2026, to allow a three-year implementation period for the drinks industry.

However, there have been rumblings in recent weeks that the plan would be postponed, with Mr Harris saying that it would be additional disruption and a “potential trade barrier” as tariff negotiations continue.

At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, the Tánaiste told ministers that Ms Carroll MacNeill will defer the plans for two years. This is despite reports that it would be a four-year pause.

Correspondence released under Freedom of Information (FoI) shows that the Taoiseach was being lobbied by Ibec to drop the labelling plans.

On June 3, Mr McCoy called for the plans to be dropped for four years “at least”.

“The wider drinks sector, but particularly many of the new emerging distilleries, have significant exposure to these new tariffs and the wider trade uncertainty,” wrote Mr McCoy.

 “The majority of distilling across the country is now suspended.

The introduction of new labelling requirements for the drinks sector, which will add over one-third to product labelling and packaging costs, should be suspended for at least four years to give some certainty to operators.

“Reducing regulatory burden costs to free up resources to allow companies invest in finding new markets would be a positive development.”

Mr McCoy said that the legislation had been cited by the US administration in its 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, which he said was “cause for further concern and reason for this legislation to be deferred”.

He added: “The industry does not want this to be an issue of disagreement in overall efforts to secure a resolution on trade relations and restoration of a tariff-free trading environment.”

Further correspondence shows the letter was also forwarded from the Taoiseach’s office to the Department of Enterprise several days later seeking an update on enterprise minister Peter Burke’s engagement with Ms Carroll MacNeill.

A letter sent from Mr Burke to Ms Carroll MacNeill on May 15 was also released under FoI.

He said that recent months have seen “significant global uncertainty and a rapidly shifting trading landscape”, which he said “could have profound competitiveness implications for small open economies like Ireland”.

Mr Burke said that Ireland would be the first country in Europe to introduce the labels.

“The proposed measures will mean increased production and sale costs for Irish producers and importers and add to the price payable by consumers at a time when prices are also rising due to a multitude of other factors,” wrote Mr Burke.

“Notwithstanding the overarching health benefits of the proposal, I would ask you to consider pausing the introduction of the proposed new requirements.”

Calls not to delay plans

Meanwhile, Mr Martin was urged not to delay the plans and received a letter just last week from Alcohol Action Ireland chief executive Sheila Gilheany.

She said that “postponing alcohol health information labelling is not consequence free given the thousands harmed by alcohol in Ireland.”