Code Consultation

As part of the Government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal, the Portman Group is reviewing the alcohol industry’s Code of Practice on the responsible marketing of alcohol.
 
The Code of Practice on the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks was first launched in 1996 and has undergone three reviews in that time.  Since the last review in 2006, the marketing environment has undergone significant change including the rapid growth in social networking and use of digital media.  

A full public consultation was launched in October 2011 which closed on 31 January 2012.   A copy of the consultation document is available to download from the right hand side of this page.

We published our initial reponse to the Consultation together with Tonic Consultant´s independent analysis and all the individual reponses we received. You can read the independent analysis by Tonic Consultants.

On 9 November 2012 the Portman Group launched the fifth edition of the Code of Practice, which will come into full effect in May 2013. We also announced that we will be introducing a new, separate Sponsorship Code. This will require alcohol sponsors to ‘promote responsible drinking and / or supporting diversionary / community activities; taking into account the size, scale, reach, and length of the sponsorship’. We are also proposing a fast track process to enable us to work with complainants and producers to resolve some issues more quickly.

The revised Code will come into effect in May 2013 and we aim to publish the new Sponsorship Code in Summer 2013.

*LATEST NEWS*

Seeking industry views – March 2013
 
We are currently running two short technical industry consultations which close on 12 April 2013. In the first one, we are consulting alcohol producers and retailers on a revised complaints and enforcement process for the Portman Group Code. In the second, we are consulting alcohol producers, retailers and rights holders on a new sponsorship rule and associated guidance for the new Portman Group Sponsorship Code.
(Please note, we are seeking views from alcohol producers, retailers and rights holders only on these technical points - you can view the documents on the right hand side of this page.)
 
We will include best practice examples in the new Sponsorship Code guidance to show how companies can include ‘recognisable commitment’ to social responsibility in their sponsorship activities – if your company would like to contribute an example please complete the word template in Appendix C alongside.
 
For more information email us at consultation@portmangroup.org.uk