Ireland is hoping to bring in health warnings on alcoholic drinks, including wine bottles, similar to those on cigarette packets within two or three months after getting the all-clear from the European Commission for its controversial plan, an Irish government official has said.
Italy and other wine-making countries such as France and Spain are staunchly opposed to the labels, which warn of links to cancer and harm for the liver due to excessive consumption.
Claire Gordon, manager of the tobacco and alcohol control unit at the Irish Department of Health, told Euractiv that Dublin was “very grateful and indeed somewhat surprised” that the EU had given the green light to the plan.
“Clearly what we’re doing is a breach of the single market in some way, in the sense that we’re looking for extra changes to a product compared to the way it’s sold in other countries,” she said.
“Hopefully within two to three months, we’ll be able to kick off this law and then the next thing is for everybody else to follow”.
Gordon said notifying the World Trade Organisation (WTO) about the label plan would be among the next steps.
