Ban suggested on duty-free alcohol sales

The Public Health Board last month published a new set of alcohol guidelines based on new research which suggests that a lower alcohol intake than previously thought can damage health.

The general guidelines can be seen here.

Now, a set of more practical guidelines has been added.

Perhaps the most noteworthy of these is a call to stop all duty-free sales of alcohol at the airport and on ferry Norrøna.

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“As with any product, if it’s cheap and easily accessible, people will buy more of it,” says Magni Mohr, who heads the Public Health Board.

“And then there is the signalling effect of announcing to tourists that they can buy cheap alcohol and tobacco. We should instead lower the prices of healthy products.”

Trade minister Magnus Rasmussen, who administers the Faroese Alcohol Monopoly Act, agrees:

“Every time I return to the Faroes from abroad, I wonder why unhealthy things such as alcohol, tobacco and chocolate are so cheap,” he says.

“We need to do something about this. I will bring it up with the government.”

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The other practical recommendations from the Public Health Board are:

• Tax alcohol according to the amount of pure alcohol content

• More thorough adherence to the alcohol rules – e.g. stronger enforcement of the rule that under-18s should not serve alcohol in bars and restaurants

• Future-proofing alcohol monopoly Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins (“Rúsan”)

• Improving preventive work in schools and leisure centres

• Improving mental health, especially among young people

• A more coordinated effort to integrate citizens into socially healthy communities and ensuring equal access for all citizens to healthy social activities.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.