The drinks industry is looking to the government for more direction over new alcohol labels.
Following last week's announcement by the Department of Health, industry insiders have raised concerns that the government is failing to provide adequate guidance over the new voluntary alcohol labels which should be carried on drinks by the end of 2008.
The government said a "ground-breaking" voluntary agreement has been reached which will see bottles and cans give unit content, recommend safe-drinking
guidelines and advertise sensible drinking advice from Drinkaware.
Beer, wine and spirits unit information will be given per glass and per bottle. The labelling will be supported by a major cross-government campaign
on alcohol from 2008.
However, there is confusion over the how the new system will work and how the government will assist in communicating the responsible drinking message
to consumers.
Chief executive of the Portman Group, David Poley, said: "We look forward to further constructive discussions with the government and our members so that
drinks labels are used as effectively as possible to help achieve this aim."
Nigel Pollard, head of PR and sponsorship at brewer Scottish and Newcastle UK, indicated the brewer was "broadly supportive" of the move as part of a
strategy to provide consumers with better information.
Mark Hastings, communications director at the British Beer & Pub Association, added: "We are most encouraged by the announcement about the
government¹s commitment to spend a significant amount of money on the sensible drinking campaign."
The Gin & Vodka Association agreed that some factors are subject to further discussion, while the Scotch Whisky Association said it would be looking
through the guidelines to see how to best communicate the responsible drinking message.
Public health minister Caroline Flint said: "We will continue to work closely with the drinks industry on the voluntary introduction of this new labelling information and with them will monitor the effect of the agreement on people¹s drinking habits."