BII welcomes Youth Alcohol Action Plan
The BII has welcomed the emphasis on increased awareness of the dangers of alcohol in the Youth Alcohol Action Plan (YAAP).
The Youth Action Plan set out measures to further educate parents and under-18s on safe levels of alcohol consumption and the dangers of misuse.
"We welcome the focus that the announcement of this plan puts on increasing awareness of alcohol and the dangers of its misuse to young people and to their parents," said BII chief executive John McNamara (pictured).
"Ultimately, any campaign of activity which encourages responsible drinking - among young people and the wider population - is a good thing."
Last year, the BII launched its Schools Project - a three-pronged initiative to better education amongst the young.
It included a dedicated website (www.theschoolsproject.co.uk), sponsored alcohol awareness quiz sheets and the Certificate in Alcohol Awareness (CAA).
"Over 100 schools are now involved in the BII Schools Project, over 500 pupils have taken the CAA and we estimate around 20,000 young people are using the leaflets in a variety of different ways," he said.
"Clearly, there is much work to be done in this area and we are continually evaluating the Schools Project to ensure it is effective and is achieving its objectives.
"We will be using our knowledge and understanding of the issues surrounding alcohol education to feed into the Government's consultation process on these latest guidelines."
Other trade bodies slammed the YAAP for attempting to make voluntary schemes such as Challenge-21 mandatory and the introduction of a yellow and red card two-strike rule on underage sale.
