Lord Condon

chairman, Portman Group Complaints Panel (new entry)

Jean Coussins

chief executive, Portman Group

(14)

Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Paul Condon is responsible for heading up the adjudicating panel on complaints received by drinks industry watchdog the Portman Group.

Earlier this year Condon "went public" to explain how it reached some of its decisions. Having to consider whether drinks such as Sex on the Beach and Screaming Orgasm should be swept off supermarket and pub shelves, provided the panel with some of its more straightforward decisions, Condon reveals. But banning a new Russian vodka, Kalashnikov, caused widespread controversy, prompting one trade commentator to say that the Portman Group had "lost its marbles".

Condon concedes that the almost split decision which led to the name being vetoed was a difficult one to make. There's no doubt, though, that Portman's pretty tough-minded approach to self-regulation since it was founded in 1997 has helped keep inteference from Government at bay.

Portman Group chief executive Jean Coussins has trenchant views on the need for the on-trade to bring wilder drinks promotions under control. She feels pubs have lagged behind compared to the almost self-flagellant efforts by drinks producers to stamp on products that step outside its strict code on best practice.

In the foreword to Portman's Annual Code Report 2004, Coussins said: "[The] gap in the regulatory framework must be plugged if the kind of consistent, joined-up best practice envisaged by the Government in its [Alcohol Harm Reduction] Strategy is to develop. The retail side of the industry needs to decide how best to achieve this. It is to be hoped that the Government, knowing how effective the Portman Group Code has been in driving up producer standard, will give the retailers the chance to deliver on a self-regulatory basis too."

File under A' for Action Required Now.