Under Ussa, the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry has become a proactive player. The industry has invested in responsibility efforts, such as by creating the most popular responsibility website in Finland, kohtuullisesti.fi. In addition, we started the preliminary inspection of alcohol advertising. Work on the preparation of the new Alcohol Act took years. The final version accounts for the needs and views of the industry

Member companies have already been committed to self-regulation for many years, and we intend to make this audit a regular thing. The advertiser is always responsible for compliance with the law, which is why it’s important for member companies to pay attention to this and create a set of practices with advertising agencies to ensure that they always act correctly in all situations

The new Alcohol Act and the tax increase should definitely come into force at the same time. The industry is afraid that taxes will first be increased and no new legislation will follow. The tax increase threatens to dilute the revision of the Alcohol Act – a revision that would improve competitiveness in Finland’s domestic market and curb crossborder trade

The tax increase will have an unfavourable impact on our already falling domestic market. The increase will cause Finland to lose tax revenue to crossborder trade, while simultaneously weakening the brewing industry’s competitiveness and employment capacity, and reducing the profitability of breweries’ investments

In addition to investing in official supervision, it’s also important to run long-term awareness campaigns to boost social control. Traffic organisations have long been cooperating with a variety of different actors in their commendable efforts to increase awareness. Businesses, authorities and civic organisations should endeavour to engage in similar long-term and broad-ranging cooperation to increase awareness about alcohol

Alcohol-free beer is an excellent alternative when drinking alcohol is inappropriate. Consumers want to enjoy alcohol-free beers from familiar and favourite brands. It’s a great pity that these alcohol-free beers cannot be advertised, and that consumers cannot be made aware of the wide range of alcohol-free alternatives available

Finland must solve the problems of escalating cross-border trade itself. The Government’s new Alcohol Act is a moderate step in the right direction. The new act should be put into immediate effect, but beer tax should also be lowered to be more on par with Estonia’s. A sensible policy would support competitiveness in the domestic market and make sure that Finland gets its fair share of the available tax revenue

One job in a brewery indirectly creates 17 new jobs, but most of those are in the bars, pubs, cafés and restaurants that serve beer

Experience has shown that restrictive control policies simplistically aimed at reducing per capita consumption miss the target problem, producing mixed results and unintended consequences from both an economic and public health perspective

In some cases, those who are inconvenienced tend to be moderate drinkers for whom beer or other drinks may be part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle, while the determined alcohol drinker will always find a way

Breweries are proud of the significant role they play in the European economy. Breweries create jobs in the value chain and increase trade both within and outside the EU. A business-friendly policy will enable breweries to improve the general competitiveness of the European economy and promote sustainable growth

Fair and reasonable taxation will benefit the entire value chain ‘from grain to glass’ and thereby the entire European economy. We need to ensure that taxation remains at a competitive level, so it doesn’t fuel cross-border trade in Europe

We have the best water in the world, with plenty of export potential, but only branded water is worth exporting. Finland should draw up a national export strategy in which all parties would cooperate on promoting exports of Finnish water. Export growth requires a strong domestic market, but the soft drinks tax is undermining our domestic market

The increase in travellers’ private imports is a problem that requires a permanent solution. Finland must reduce its beer tax to a level that is competitive with Estonia’s. This means gradually halving the tax on beer with a moderate decrease of 10-15 per cent per year

This legislation has already been under preparation for six years – and it’s still not ready. We need fast-acting measures to curb travellers’ private imports

Consumers want information about the content of alcoholic beverages, but the disclosure of this information is still rare even in Europe, because it’s not mandatory. The Finnish brewing industry is a pioneer in transparency in product information

The Finnish brewing trade has been facing an increasingly restricted scope for conducting business and, as a result, domestic sales have been falling for a long time. In order to curb travellers’ private imports, the new Alcohol Act must quickly be brought into force and the tax on beer, cider and long drinks should be lowered