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Bars and brewers unite against bingeing Bars and brewers unite against bingeing · More money pledged for 'responsible drinking' body · Alcohol industry hopes to head off government levy Simon Bowers Monday March 13, 2006 The Guardian The drinks industry's "responsible drinking" watchdog, the Portman Group, is to be downsized and largely replaced by a better-funded campaigning charity. Retailers and producers hope the new body, involving health, counselling and policing groups, will head off government proposals for a "binge drinking levy". It will be the first time that manufacturers and the major retailers - including the large pub chains and supermarkets - have supported a single platform to present a united front on alcohol abuse. Among those backing the move are drinks groups Diageo and Scottish & Newcastle, Tesco, and pub operators Mitchells & Butlers and Enterprise Inns. They hope the measure will be enough to replace proposals from the prime minister's strategy unit for a scheme supervised by the Home Office but funded by industry, possibly through a compulsory levy. One backer of the industry's alternative plans said: "We see the food industry looking more and more like big tobacco and we don't want the drinks trade to fall into that trap. We have to take a coordinated lead in promoting responsibility." The industry is proposing the Portman Group spin off its charitable arm, Drinkaware, under the stewardship of an independent trust. It is expected that health and charity sector stakeholders would join industry representatives on the trust. The government, which is thought to back the plans in principle, would not have a seat at the table. Drinkaware's website has already been widely publicised on bottle labels and adverts for many leading brands. The site offers advice on avoiding alcohol abuse and education on the effects of drink. Under an independent trust, these messages would be projected more actively. Drink firms and retailers that sign up to the programme would contribute £3m in the first year, rising to £5m thereafter. Christopher Carson, European chief executive of Constellation Brands, the US wine group which also sells Diamond White cider and Babycham in the UK, said: "Drinkaware will be really talking to the consumer whereas the Portman Group tended to be sitting back and talking about policy for the industry." Tesco's commercial director, Carolyn Bradley, insisted the supermarket's involvement was not a change in direction. "We are doing it because we are a responsible operator involved in the alcohol market and want to do what we can to help." The Portman Group, meanwhile, would shrink to be a narrowly focused branding watchdog. Its members would reallocate about 75% of the group's £2.25m budget to Drinkaware. The Portman Group was established in 1989 by Britain's largest drinks makers in response to concern over the rapid rise of alcopops, many of which were seen as products marketed at children. Its nine members account for about 60% of alcohol sales in the UK. Two years ago the prime minister's strategy unit called for a tougher approach to educating and advising on alcohol abuse, coordinated by the government but funded by industry. It proposed "seeking a financial contribution from the industry towards the harms caused by excessive drinking...to be voluntary in the first instance...The success of the voluntary approach will be reviewed." The government has made clear it expects more of a contribution from industry than that offered so far by the Portman Group. It has told trade leaders the group's membership is too small and self-interested, and its funding insufficient.
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