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Nov 28 '25, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Countering Alcohol Industry Interference – Community Experiences and Brand New Tools
Date
November 28, 2025
Time
3.00 – 4.00 pm CET
Registration
Please follow the link to register for the Zoom Event, here.
Background
As governments seek to promote health and development through evidence-based alcohol policy initiatives, the alcohol industry is intensifying its efforts to delay, derail, and destroy effective measures – such as alcohol taxation and warning labels.
Recent Movendi International research reveals how alcohol industry actors deploy misleading economic and health claims to influence policy debates and undermine political will for alcohol policy reforms. At the same time, new evidence from across regions shows the urgent need for clear guidance on avoiding conflicts of interest to ensure that public health policy is made in the public interest, free from commercial interference.
To support governments, advocates, and partners in navigating these challenges, Movendi International has developed three complementary resources:
- Countering Alcohol Industry Opposition to Alcohol Taxes – a resource to help advocates expose and respond to industry arguments that undermine fair and effective alcohol taxation.
- Avoiding Conflict of Interest in Alcohol Policy Development – a guide outlining how to protect public health policy processes from industry influence and ensure transparency and accountability.
- World Map of alcohol industry interference: a one-of-its kind overview based on local experiences from alcohol policy advocates that reveals Big Alcohol’s lobbying campaigns against lives saving alcohol policy measures.
Purpose
The online event foster an exchange among alcohol policy advocates on how to counter alcohol industry interference and protect public policy from commercial interests.
It aims to elevate collective understanding, coordination, and advocacy capacity across regions in anticipation of intensified industry lobbying ahead of upcoming national and global alcohol policy processes.The event will also serve to launch these two strategic resources with a focus on the novel and unique conflict of interest guidelines.
Objectives
- Present the new Movendi International Issue Brief and Conflict of Interest Guidelines as tools to support evidence-based, integrity-driven alcohol policy advocacy.
- Illustrate how alcohol industry interference manifests in different contexts with real-world examples from different regions – Uganda, Europe, and Mexico.
- Exchange lessons on strategies to protect policy-making from conflicts of interest, potential counter-strategies, and strategies to sustain momentum for evidence-based alcohol policy, such as raising alcohol taxes.
- Equip policymakers, advocates, and partners with concrete recommendations for identifying and addressing conflicts of interest in alcohol policy processes.
- Inspire cross-regional collaboration and alignment among partners advancing health and development through alcohol policy solutions.
Program (60 minutes)
- Welcome and Introduction (5 min) – Moderator
- Global Picture (5 min): The state of Big Alcohol and the world map of alcohol industry interference
- Country Experiences and Key Lessons (15 min total, 5 min each)
- Juliet Namukasa, Uganda Alcohol Policy Alliance – How the alcohol industry derails alcohol policy progress in Uganda
- Sheila Gilheany, Alcohol Action Ireland – Alcohol industry lobbying regarding Ireland’s alcohol labelling law.
- Alejandro Calvillo, El Poder del Consumidor (Mexico) – Alcohol industry narratives in the alcohol tax reform debate.
- Presentation of New Resources (10 min) – Pierre Andersson, Movendi International
- Overview of the new resources and key findings.
- Panel Discussion and Q&A (15 min) – Moderator-led dialogue on counter-strategies and opportunities for collaboration.
- Closing Remarks (5 min) – Key takeaways and next steps.