Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Alcohol Law was approved and published in 2019. Six years later, much of what it determines is still not taken seriously.
Consumption of alcohol in public spaces, advertising on social media, terraces and building facades, sponsorship of cultural and sporting activities. Just some of the dimensions of the Alcohol Act that continue to be ignored.
Published in the Official Gazette on April 18, 2019, the law was presented as an instrument to improve health and well-being, with restrictions to try to curb excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages in the country.
Former Chief of Staff to President Jorge Carlos Fonseca and current president of the Less Alcohol More Life Foundation (FMAMV), Manuel Faustino was one of the law’s greatest defenders. He continues to believe in his merits, but admits that much of what the diploma establishes is not being fulfilled.
“For example, the law states that alcohol cannot be consumed in public spaces and this is not always being enforced. The law prohibits all types of advertising, on radio, television, social media, so-called static advertising, billboards and posters.
There are extremely important gains in this area, namely on radio and television and, to a certain extent, static advertising, but this is not being achieved in terms of social networks”, he points out.
The president of FMAMV warns that, without supervision, the law will not produce the desired effects.
“In fact, if the central issue of supervision is not addressed, much of its potential will be compromised, in a society where people drink excessively, where there are health and mortality problems related to alcoholic beverages,” he declares.
Hard work
Terraces with tables and chairs displaying alcoholic beverage logos remain or have returned to terraces. In recent years, it has also become a habit to paint the facades of bars and grocery stores with more or less explicit allusions to beer brands.
The legislation stipulates that, in supermarkets, grocery stores and similar commercial establishments, spaces dedicated to alcoholic beverages must be marked, which rarely happens, with chests and shelves without any type of signage or mixing all types of drinks.
Paulo Monteiro, who heads the General Inspectorate of Economic Activities, confirms that the agency has had problems with operators.
“The issue of the paintings that we are repeatedly seeing in houses, by Strela and Super Bock, has come to the fore. We are having a lot of problems with economic operators. This is a job that we do every day, whenever we go to inspections. Sometimes, we can take into account that these two companies pay for tables, chairs, refrigerators, painting, and home renovations, so it creates a certain difficulty for us. But that’s it, it’s the law and we have to work on that basis,” he explains.
The Alcohol Law also prohibits the installation of commercial establishments selling alcoholic beverages within 200 meters of educational establishments. Only on paper.
The sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited in workplaces, including canteens, snack bars and dining rooms.
On the other hand, the retail sale of any beverage that does not have sanitary certification is prohibited. On this point, IGAE highlights actions related to grogue production. As for importing, the key is the timing of customs clearance.
“There has to be a chain of intervention and monitoring, because if it enters and spreads here, it creates a big problem for us. If there is effective control, which I believe is being done, our [own] control will be much easier,” he notes.
Social networks in freewheeling
If the ban on advertising in the media is complied with globally by them, despite the loss of revenue to which they have been subjected, without any compensation, on social networks the scenario is completely different. Freely visible to everyone and outside of any effective regulation, advertisements for all types of alcoholic beverages proliferate there.
These platforms fall outside the scope of action of the Social Communication Regulatory Agency (ARC), which, however, regulates advertising agencies. Carina Andrade Ramos, from the regulatory board, confirms that proceedings have already been brought against agencies involved in advertising campaigns for alcoholic beverages.
“Advertising agencies are also regulated by us and all activities they disclose are subject to our scrutiny. There have been situations and advertising agencies that have been the target of lawsuits because of this disclosure. But most of them, at this point, are already informed, they already know what the limits are and have not disclosed this information”, he believes.
The Consumer Defense Association (ADECO) was one of the entities consulted during the drafting of the Alcohol Law. The current president, Nelson Faria, is not surprised by some non-compliance.
“On the issue of delimiting 200-meter perimeters of educational establishments and spaces,We suggested at that time that the deadline should be extended so that these companies could leave these spaces, which never happened.
We also appealed to the issue of supervision, so that full compliance with the law could be observed”, he explains.
In a 2024 study, the World Health Organization reveals that, in 2019, 2.6 million people died worldwide due to alcohol consumption, which corresponded to 4.7% of deaths that year. Almost three-quarters of the deaths were men.
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