Liquor Law - The proposed amendments to the National Liquor Act are
contained in the draft National Liquor Policy - published for comment on 20 May
2015. Anyone can comment up to 14 November 2016.
The main policy considerations listed in the document are :
1. Restructuring the liquor industry,
2. Giving priority to facilitatio of
entry and empowerment of new entrants, and
3. To better reflect on all social an
economic costs associated with liquor abuse.
We list the most important amendments and comment
in brief on the implications
thereof.
Licence holders may be held liable for damage caused by their
customers
The question is how a court will - legally - contribute the
behaviour of a person to the supplier of a legal substance?
As one commentator aptly put it – will Pick ‘n Pay be held liable for a murder
committed with a steak knife bought at one of its stores? One can think
of many more absurd examples. It is bound to scare away, rather than
attract new entrants to the industry.
Increasing the legal drinking age from 18 yrs to 21 yrs
The question is how someone can be deemed to have the necessary judgement to exercise his/her vote, but not
old enough to choose what to
drink? Studies abroad have shown that raising the legal
drinking age does not alter the drinking patterns of heavy drinkers. In
another instance, it only lead to a 6% reduction in the number of university
students consuming liquor.
No liquor outlets within 500m from churches & schools
It is illogical and impractical to link any fixed distance between
liquor outlets and certain institutions to alcohol abuse. Why would a
school boy, on his way to buy liquor, turn around because the liquor store is
situated 600m (and not 500m) from his school or residence? The
answer is simple – he will not. It is even more ridiculous to
suggest that outlets within 500m of these institutions should have their
licences cancelled after two years – if they haven’t moved by then.
This column regrettably does not allow for full comment on this proposal, save
to say that it will not withstand the test of our constitution and established
legal principles. Members of Liquor Boards have the
training and experience - they should be trusted to exercise their judgement
in each individual application.
Limiting liquor trading hours
The trading hours of the majority of liquor outlets coincide with
times of the day when the citizenry are economically active. It is
naïve to believe that people will adapt their behaviour to when it conflicts
directly with their social and economic interaction. The e-toll saga is a
good example, as are the prohibition era in the US and our own restrictive
liquor policies during the apartheid era. The public would rather buy from
illegally operated outlets or order more liquor before closing
time.
BBBEE – Codes
Much is made of the enforcement if these codes in the
proposal. It is seen as the main mechanism to drive transformation.
The irony is that these codes were withdrawn within a week of being
published earlier this month. The current codes haven't presented an
obstacle to new entrants into the market. We trust the new codes won't have a
negative effect when implemented.
Trust fund
A trust fund to be used to combat
alcohol abuse is proposed. The industry will contribute a percentage to
the fund, to be determined by the Minister of Trade and Industry (after
consultation). The state will have direct oversight and control
over the fund and activities to be implemented. It is foreseen that a
government agency will be established for this purpose. Governments
in general have poor track records in managing these kind of funds. This
looks like a mechanism to fund the additional staff members required to build the
staff capacity referred to in the policy document. It is no
less than another form of tax being added to an already overtaxed industry.
In conclusion
Licensing is set to become even more expensive and onerous as it will become
more difficult to comply to legislation. It will become more difficult
for small business to enter the market due to higher cost and risk.
The emphasis of all role players should be on influencing
positive social norms and values. This will influence drinking patterns
to a much larger extent than legislation requiring a host of new administrative
infrastructure. If the energy required to implement the above proposals could
be spent on promoting positive social behaviour (which is one of the
proposals), chances are that we'll be much closer to reaching the goals set in
this policy document.
[Article by The Licence Co (LiquorWise Division)]
