Nepal cracks down on liquor, okays stringent policy on sale
The Nepal government has approved a stringent policy to regulate the sale of alcohol, including mandatory pictorial health warnings and an age bar for buying liquor, sparking a debate in the country.
The National Policy on Regulation and Control of Alcohol 2017, cleared by the cabinet on February 20, will now be sent to Parliament for its endorsement. Under it, Nepal will adopt a zero-tolerance policy against drinking alcohol in public functions, weddings and other social and cultural events.
The policy requires producers to display a pictorial warning depicting liver cirrhosis and effects on other organs that will have to cover 75% of the packaging of alcoholic beverages.
Nepal will be the first country to introduce such a warning for alcohol.
People below the age of 21 and pregnant women will be restricted from purchasing and consuming alcohol. There will also be a total ban on alcohol advertisements.
The policy will also decrease the availability of alcohol by restricting sales to specially licenced shops.
The health ministry said it was forced to impose such restrictions because of health problems caused by excessive drinking, but there have been calls that the social and religious aspects of consuming alcohol should not be overlooked — liquor forms an intrinsic part of many religious functions in Nepal.
WATCH AND WAIT
Though the policy has been cautiously welcomed by various stakeholders, some have questioned how it will be implemented. Others have noted the policy is silent on controlling moonshine, the sale of which is rampant in the countryside.
The health ministry has proposed a new mechanism to monitor the policy’s implementation and to take legal action against violators.
The multi-billion rupee liquor industry is in a dilemma as it cannot be seen as opposing a “noble cause” taken up by the government, a senior industrialist told Hindustan Times. The industry will wait till the policy is fully implemented before coming up a reaction, he said.
Biplav Poudel, who runs luxury hotels in Pokhara and Chitwan, told HT the measures would not affect tourism as almost all tourists drink inside their hotels.
But Gopal Krishna Siwakoti, a prominent rights activist, gave the example of Andhra Pradesh in India, which lifted a ban on alcohol in 1997 after enforcing prohibition for two years. “Such measures are not successful due to leakages within the state and from across borders and this is a lesson for Nepal,” he said.