South Korea is set to introduce changes to the warning labels on alcohol.
New rules are being introduced by to “reduce health risks and social harms”, the country’s government said.
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Under the changes, which take effect in November, the phrase ‘No Drunk Driving’ or an image delivering the same message, must be displayed on the front labels of alcohol containers alongside existing warnings about health risks related to alcohol consumption.
Products shipped or received for import prior to the new rules may be sold until May next year.
Kim Han-sook, director general of health policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said the government “will continue to improve measures to reduce the damage to health and the social costs caused by drinking.”
Eyal Victor Mamou, founder and CEO of Seoul-based business consultancy KOISRA, said the law has “some public-health merit,” pointing to data that indicated a third of South Korean adults indulged in binge drinking each month.
However, he warned the placement of the warning labels on the front of packaging would impose costs on importers.
“For wine, whisky and many hard-liquor products, Korea is largely an import market,” Mamou said. “The regulation may unintentionally favour large local producers and large importers, because they can absorb redesign costs, manage larger inventory and negotiate Korea-specific packaging with overseas suppliers.”
Bona Kim, managing partner of The Sool Company, which promotes traditional Korean alcoholic drinks, said smaller, craft businesses lack the capacity or capital to quickly redesign labels and, due to minimum order requirements, typically hold a significant stock of labels, which could be unusable.
The design of labels for traditional products is also “tied to heritage and craft identity that’s often been passed down for generations”, so warning labels “undermines the very tradition they’re trying to preserve and promote”, she said.
Kim Heon-ju, president of the Korea Health Promotion Institute, said the organisation will work hard “to distribute and provide guidance so that liquor manufacturers and importers can consistently comply with the revised labelling standards”.
The Korea Wines & Spirits Importers Association told Just Drinks it was in ongoing discussions with the government on the new rules.
