Pledge tightens control of online sale of alcoholic drinks to minors

ALCOHOL producers and platforms operating in the Philippines engaged in the sale of alcoholic products relaunched a pledge to boost their efforts at creating a properly regulated online marketplace for alcohol products, according to the Alcoholic Beverages Alliance of the Philippines (ABAPI).

In line with the global pledge to develop and enhance safeguards to prevent the online sale and delivery of alcohol to minors, producers and platforms operating in the Philippines vowed “to collaborate to reinforce regulations that prevent those below legal purchase age and legal drinking age from accessing alcohol products, and to support the legitimate sales of alcohol in the online environment in the country.”

Members of the ABAPI, an organization comprised of the leading international alcohol beverage producers, as well as importers and distributors in the country, committed to “ensure compliance on licensing, taxation and other relevant regulations on distribution and sales of alcohol of our respective companies.”

ABAPI members also pledged to encourage online retailers to “reinforce” and/or put in place safeguards to protect minors.

Moreover, they committed to fight against illicit trade by providing a “direct channel” for e-commerce platforms to raise any suspicion.

Signatories of the pledge include Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Moët Hennessy, Bacardi-martini Philippines, Brown-forman, Liquor.ph, Boozy. ph, The Booze Shop, Manila Wine, Winery.ph, Singlemalt.ph, Alcoline, Lazada, Sugbowine, and Thirst-liquor On Demand.

For online platforms selling alcoholic beverages, they have pledged to encourage the display of responsible drinking messages on all accounts or pages, which list alcoholic beverages for sale.

In relation to limiting access to minors, the online platforms said they are committed to adopt “age screening technologies” to reduce the potential for minors to have access to alcohol products on partner platforms.

Further, these platforms noted they would put in place safeguards upon delivery of purchased alcoholic beverages to protect minors, including: ID checks upon delivery where it is possible and necessary.

Another safeguard, the online platforms said, is the screening of addresses to ensure that alcohol is not delivered to schools, day-care centers and other similar institutions or establishments.

Meanwhile, to protect consumers against counterfeit or illicit products, the online platforms have pledged they will ensure all alcohol transactions are “properly documented” by sending a verification or a receipt to consumers, or through any other relevant means or format.

Moreover, the platforms noted they would be creating a “coordination mechanism” between alcohol producers and e-commerce platforms to verify the authenticity of the product in case of doubt.

Another measure that the online platforms will undertake is to take down products that are found to be “illegal or unlicensed”— whether through being alerted by regulators or consumers, or through internal mechanisms.

“Such innovative partnerships are crucial in order to keep minors safe and promote responsible drinking. All signatories of this pledge are committed to continue looking at ways to improve the safeguards and look forward to engaging with the government to see what else we can collectively achieve in pursuit of these common goals,” the pledge read.

Meanwhile, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) Director General Rowel S. Barba noted the report titled tack ling illicit alcohol in southeast asia published in september2022 by the trans national alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) divulged estimates that the “Philippines incurred the second biggest loss in illicit alcohol at $438 million.”

According to the TRACIT report, Asean will be the region with the highest consumption of unrecorded alcohol by 2025.