Alcohol industry involvement in the delayed South Africa Draft Liquor Amendment Bill 2016: a case study based on freedom of information requests.

IF 5.9 2区 医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Gemma Mitchell, Pfumelani Siwela, Susan Goldstein, Aadielah Maker Diedericks
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: South Africa is reported to have one of the highest per capita rates of alcohol consumption among drinkers globally, with alcohol harms exacerbating socio-economic inequalities in the country. The Draft Liquor Amendment Bill 2016 proposed new restrictions on alcohol advertising, availability, and liability of retailers and manufacturers for harm related to any contravention of the regulations. To date, the Bill has not progressed through the legislative process. The alcohol industry is known to use a diverse set of strategies to delay evidence-based policies globally.

Methods: We aimed to explore Bill-related activity by industry within the National Economic and Development Labour Council, a multi-stakeholder forum that assesses socio-economic policies before they reach parliament. On 06 July 2023 we made a Request for Access to Record, using form two of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), no. 2 of 2000 to the National Economic and Development Labour Council for access to minutes of all meetings, reports, and any other publications related to the Bill between January 2016 and December 2022. Informed by Ulucanlar et al's (2023) model and taxonomies of corporate political activity, we extracted data on industry Bill-related activity and thematically analysed key events, presented here as a narrative synthesis.

Results: We identified activity by 14 alcohol industry organisations related to the Bill between 2016 and 2022. Industry representation on five National Economic and Development Labour Council-related committees identified between 2017 and 2021 facilitated their involvement in Bill-related discussions and supported access to other government departments. Community representation was low in all committees compared to industry, labour, and government. Industry funded two socio-economic assessments of the Bill in 2017 and 2022, despite an independent socio-economic impact assessment having already been completed. The 2017 report delayed progress of the Bill, and the 2022 're-evaluation' was more critical of the proposed measures, with the differing conclusions attributed to different methodologies. During the covid-19 pandemic, industry used a 'carrot and stick' approach of legal threats and donations to attempt to move towards self-regulation via a social compact. The National Economic and Development Labour Council confirmed in 2023 that the social compact was unsuccessful.

Conclusions: Early 'regulatory capture' gave the alcohol industry the opportunity to shape assessment of the Bill within the National Economic and Development Labour Council. Our findings are in line with previous studies on corporate influence on policy globally, and support calls for a reassessment of the role and proportion of industry representation within the National Economic and Development Labour Council locally.

酒业参与推迟的南非2016年酒类修正法案草案:基于信息自由请求的案例研究。
背景:据报道,南非是全球饮酒者人均饮酒率最高的国家之一,酒精危害加剧了该国的社会经济不平等。《2016年酒类修正案草案》对酒类广告、可获得性以及零售商和制造商因违反规定而造成的损害的责任提出了新的限制。迄今为止,该法案尚未通过立法程序取得进展。众所周知,酒精行业使用各种各样的策略来拖延全球的循证政策。方法:我们的目标是在国家经济和发展劳工委员会内探索与法案相关的行业活动,该委员会是一个多利益相关者论坛,在社会经济政策进入议会之前对其进行评估。在2023年7月6日,我们使用《促进信息获取法》(PAIA)的表格二,第。向国家经济和发展劳工委员会申请查阅2016年1月至2022年12月期间与该法案有关的所有会议记录、报告和任何其他出版物。根据Ulucanlar等人(2023)的模型和企业政治活动分类,我们提取了行业法案相关活动的数据,并对关键事件进行了主题分析,在这里作为叙事综合呈现。结果:我们确定了2016年至2022年期间与该法案相关的14个酒精行业组织的活动。2017年至2021年期间确定的五个国家经济和发展劳工理事会相关委员会的行业代表促进了他们参与与法案相关的讨论,并支持他们进入其他政府部门。与工业、劳工和政府相比,社区在所有委员会中的代表性都很低。尽管独立的社会经济影响评估已经完成,但该行业在2017年和2022年为该法案的两次社会经济评估提供了资金。2017年的报告推迟了该法案的进展,2022年的“重新评估”对拟议的措施更为批评,不同的结论归因于不同的方法。在2019冠状病毒病大流行期间,业界采用了法律威胁和捐赠的“胡萝卜加大棒”方法,试图通过社会契约实现自我监管。国家经济和发展劳工委员会在2023年证实,社会契约是失败的。结论:早期的“管制捕获”使酒类行业有机会在国家经济和发展劳工委员会内部对该法案进行评估。我们的研究结果与之前关于企业对全球政策影响的研究一致,并支持重新评估地方国家经济和发展劳工委员会内行业代表的作用和比例的呼吁。
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来源期刊
Globalization and Health
Globalization and Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-
CiteScore
18.40
自引率
1.90%
发文量
93
期刊介绍: "Globalization and Health" is a pioneering transdisciplinary journal dedicated to situating public health and well-being within the dynamic forces of global development. The journal is committed to publishing high-quality, original research that explores the impact of globalization processes on global public health. This includes examining how globalization influences health systems and the social, economic, commercial, and political determinants of health. The journal welcomes contributions from various disciplines, including policy, health systems, political economy, international relations, and community perspectives. While single-country studies are accepted, they must emphasize global/globalization mechanisms and their relevance to global-level policy discourse and decision-making.
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