Producers, Sellers, and Drinkers Studies of Noncommercial Alcohol in Nine Countries © International Center for Alcohol Policies, 2012
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MONOGRAPH Producers, sellers, and drinkers Studies of noncommercial alcohol in nine countries © International Center for Alcohol Policies, 2012 The International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP; www.icap.org) is a not-for-profit organization supported by major international producers of beverage alcohol. Established in 1995, ICAP’s mission is to promote understanding of the role of alcohol in society and to help reduce harmful drinking worldwide. ICAP’s efforts to foster dialogue and partnerships in the alcohol policy field are shaped by its commitment to pragmatic and feasible solutions to reducing harm that can be tailored to local and cultural considerations and needs. ICAP has been recognized by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) as a non-governmental organization in Special Consultative Status. International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) 1519 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 USA Phone: +1.202.986.1159 Fax: +1.202.986.2080 www.icap.org Global Actions on Harmful Drinking is a consortium of initiatives dedicated to helping reduce the harmful use of alcohol. This work is the result of a collective commitment made by the chief executives of major international beverage alcohol producers to make a signifi- cant effort to address harmful drinking through a combination of global and local actions, with an emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. The Global Actions on Harmful Drinking initiatives are being coordinated by ICAP. For more information about Global Actions on Harmful Drinking, please visit www.global-actions.org or e-mail [email protected] Suggested citation for this publication is as follows: International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) (Ed.). (2012). Producers, sellers, and drinkers: Studies of noncommercial alcohol in nine countries [Monograph]. Washington, DC: Author. C2 Producers, sellers, and drinkers Contents Introduction ............................................................... 3 Belarus ........................................................................ 7 Botswana .................................................................. 13 Brazil ........................................................................ 19 China ........................................................................ 25 India .......................................................................... 33 Kenya........................................................................ 39 Mexico ......................................................................45 Russia ....................................................................... 49 Sri Lanka ................................................................... 55 Producers, sellers, and drinkers: Studies of noncommercial alcohol in nine countries 1 2 Introduction A significant proportion of all alcohol volume, usually falling into generic cat- “Noncommercial consumed globally is not reflected in official egories such as “vodka” or “whiskey,” and alcohol” includes statistics, such as production, trade, and sometimes associated with organized crime. traditional sales figures. These beverages fall into the These may include counterfeit beverages, general category referred to here as “non- often of low quality, which are packaged to drinks produced commercial” alcohol. The term was chosen resemble legal beverages, often imported for home in order to differentiate these beverages ones. Finally, noncommercial alcohol consumption from alcohol drinks that are produced includes consumption of surrogate alcohol, or limited legally according to set standards, are typically derived from nonpotable medicinal local trade, regulated, and are sold commercially and or industrial liquids containing ethanol or unregistered legally (Adelekan, Razvodovsky, & Liyanage, other types of alcohol such as methanol or 2008). “Noncommercial alcohol” also differs isopropanol. These types of liquids are asso- and counterfeit from what the World Health Organization ciated with negative health outcomes and products, (WHO, 2011) has termed “unrecorded can result in poisoning and even death. and nonpotable alcohol,” which also includes legal com- surrogate mercial beverages that are traded across Noncommercial alcohol is available in alcohol. borders through import exemptions and some form in virtually every country where duty-free sales, as well as smuggling, tourist alcohol beverages are consumed. Its produc- consumption, and beverages with an alcohol tion and consumption are closely linked content below that used in legal definitions with discrete social, cultural, and economic of products. issues. Yet despite the wide prevalence of noncommercial alcohol, there is a dearth Noncommercial alcohol includes traditional of information about it (Macdonald, Wells, home-produced drinks produced legally or & Giesbrecht, 1999; Haworth & Simpson, illegally for home consumption or limited 2004; McKee, Adany, & Leon, 2012). Official local trade. The array of such beverages is statistics are difficult to obtain, given its wide and colorful, and their quality, while unrecorded nature. What data are available variable, is generally high. Their produc- are generally estimates and, as such, unreli- tion is often seasonal and coincides with able. The complexity of the topic means that the harvesting and availability of particular little empirical research is available. WHO agricultural products. As a result, these (2004, 2011) estimates that unrecorded beverages reflect the raw materials that are alcohol accounts for nearly 30% of all alco- present in particular regions, such as grains, hol consumed globally, at least two-thirds of corn, tubers, stone fruits, grapes, sugarcane, all alcohol on the Indian subcontinent, and date palm, and agave, among others. over 90% of all alcohol in East Africa. There is, therefore, an urgent need to fill this gap Also included in the definition of noncom- in our understanding of the noncommercial mercial alcohol are unregistered alcohol alcohol sector. beverages produced illegally in large Producers, sellers, and drinkers: Studies of noncommercial alcohol in nine countries 3 surveys. It was recommended that sample Global Actions on groups be drawn from both rural and urban Harmful Drinking settings, include at least 200–250 respon- dents representative of the general popula- In 2009, the chief executives of several tion, and address a few subpopulations major international alcohol beverage of interest (e.g., individuals in treatment producers and organizations1 agreed to for alcohol problems, indigent persons, launch Global Actions on Harmful Drinking, or young people). Where local facilities a set of initiatives intended to help reduce were available and capable of conducting harmful drinking in a number of low- chemical analysis of samples, it was recom- and middle-income countries. Among mended that they follow AMPHORA Project the initiatives was a major international methodology (see Lachenmeier et al., 2011) research program to examine and describe and include an assessment of a fixed set of the noncommercial alcohol market in potentially risky compounds. nine countries: Belarus, Botswana, Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, and Sri Lanka. These countries were selected Implementation primarily because of the high prevalence Local research teams in each of the nine of local alcohol on the market, but also countries sought to examine the produc- because of their geographic diversity. tion, sale, consumption patterns, and implications of the noncommercial alcohol In May 2009 the International Center for sector. Following a pilot phase in which the Alcohol Policies (ICAP) organized a meeting methodology was tested in each country attended by international experts on alcohol and the instrument adapted to meet local issues and research methodologies.2 One of requirements and conditions, the teams their most important objectives was to pro- conducted surveys in urban and rural areas duce the necessary elements to be included on the nature of the noncommercial alcohol in a comprehensive, feasible methodology market, examining its producers, sellers, that would be valid across cultures. Smaller and consumers. Given the scope of the mar- working groups met during the course of ket, data gathering was confined to specific 2009 to further refine the methodology and areas in each country, except in Botswana scope of the project and to help identify and Sri Lanka, where research teams were research partners. able to interview consumers across the entire country. Project parameters This monograph presents an overview of The objective of the Global Actions research these investigations. Each chapter, authored project on noncommercial alcohol was to by the teams that conducted the research, measure the nature and extent of unre- lays out the broad context in each country, corded alcohol production and consumption provides a description of the methodology in each country. For data collection, investi- followed, and discusses the key findings. gators were advised to use instruments such The reports from the four countries where as consumer diaries (the most commonly investigators were able to include a chemical used method), a rapid situation assess- analysis component provide information on ment, and population-based cross-sectional alcohol content, composition, and the pres- ence of contaminants in a sample of bever- 1 The sponsors are Anheuser-Busch InBev, ages collected during the research. Bacardi, Beam Inc., Brown-Forman