NZABC welcomes practical reforms to streamline alcohol licensing in the hospitality Industry.
The Ministry for Regulation’s Hospitality Sector Review, targets the areas where reform can make the greatest difference, including alcohol licensing and examines how regulation works in practice.
“We welcome the Review’s focus on making regulatory processes more efficient, streamlined and proportionate to risk,” said NZABC Executive Director Virginia Nicholls.
“The existing licensing system has evolved into a framework that is increasingly complex, costly and inconsistent. Businesses, councils and regulatory agencies face growing costs, lengthy processes and uncertainty in decision-making,” said Nicholls.
“We support the practical reforms from the review that will make alcohol licensing simpler, more efficient and proportionate to risk, including streamlined renewals, clearer first-time licensing, consistent training, better compliance tools, stronger District Licensing Committees, fairer fees and a coherent risk-based framework,” she said.
It's also important to recognise that most New Zealanders drink responsibly. The NZ Health Survey 1 shows consistently that five out of six adults drink in a responsible way, and there has been an across-the-board decline in different measures of riskier drinking as compared to 2016/17.
New Zealanders are also drinking significantly less alcohol per person than they did in the 1980s, with long-term data showing a sustained downward trend in alcohol available for consumption.
Read the review here.
Read commentary from Spirits NZ CEO and World Spirits Alliance President, Robert Brewer here.
