Karmen Jollersent a strongly-worded letter to Riisalo on the subject of alcohol advertising. In the letter, Joller expressed her dissatisfaction that the draft Advertising Act, which was developed at the end of February did not take into account the views of doctors.

Joller pointed out that she had already asked Riisalo about the same issue a couple of months earlier. She noted that the Ministry of Economic Affairs did not want to involve doctors in the meetings on the draft proposal, and that they had only attended of their own volition after learning about the draft proposal.

"Doctors were treated disrespectfully at the meetings. Why does ministry allow this kind of behavior?" Joller asked Riisalo.

In addition, Joller also criticized the minister for not taking into account the opinions of doctors or caring about the health of Estonian people in the draft proposal. According to Joller, officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs were also economical with the truth at the meeting of the Social Affairs Committee, claiming that family doctors were involved in the process.

"If your ministry really calls the above-described points involvement, I suggest you commission some training on the word "involvement" from, for example, the Institute of the Estonian Language," said Joller.

Joller added that, she expects a strong reaction from Riisalo as minister, to react strongly to what is happening within the ministry. As a doctor, she believes the Advertising Act needs to be changed.

"In Estonia, the advertising of tobacco products, alcohol, products similar to alcohol, gambling, and payday loans should be prohibited in public spaces, in the mass media, and on the internet. This would reduce the number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and suicide. All three are very problematic for us, the first two leading our mortality figures. The number of suicides has also increased sharply," explained Joller.

She added that in addition to medical professionals, the revision of the Advertising Act should also involve police officers, psychologists, debt counselors, lawyers, prosecutors, and many other specialists.

In her view, the goal of the Ministry of Economic Affairs should be to support the Estonian economy, rather than on things that will lead to preventable health costs and crime that could be avoided. She believes the current draft proposal of the Advertising Act supports potential family breakdowns, along with all the other trouble, and pain that alcohol has brought to people.

"Doctors, police officers and psychologists are overwhelmed by these problems," said Joller.

Riisalo planned to involve doctors during coordination phase

Riisalo responded to Joller with a letter of his own on Wednesday. The finance minister stated that the aim of updating the Advertising Act is not to ease restrictions but rather to amend the law in a way that reflects changes, which have occurred in recent decades. These include  advertising on social media or streaming platforms, which the current version of the law does not take into account.

"To this end, when drafting the proposal, we are analyzing which rules have become problematic in practice, considering the advertising market situation and offering options to solve these problems. After that, when the draft proposal has been prepared and at the public consultation stage, everyone can express their opinions on it and the proposed solution," said Riisalo.

The minister added that how things will look for alcohol advertising will depend on the further course of the legislative process. That is, the draft proposal, as well as feedback from the public and the outcome of both the government's and Riigikogu's respective legislative processes.

He also said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs wants to find a balance whereby supervision is effective and consumer interests are protected, but companies' rights to market their products are also maintained.

"Why does the current form of the Advertising Act no longer serve these objectives? Currently, alcohol advertising is prohibited on television and radio programs from seven in the morning until ten in the evening, for example. However, linear television is being watched less and less, and when watching on-demand content, regardless of what time it is, this advertising can still be seen. Another example is social media, where there are no time restrictions on alcohol advertising, and so it still reaches minors," he said.

The minister added that one possible solution would be to regulate all media channels holistically, in a channel-neutral manner, to account for the ways advertising appears in today's marketing space, not how things were more than 15 years ago.

"In other words, alcohol advertising should not reach children; there should not be restrictions only on linear television, but the principle should apply across channels," Riisalo said.

"Of course, alcohol is harmful to health, but ultimately, the most important thing is a person's freedom to make choices about their own life. The role of the state is to ensure that the information environment leading to a person's choices is balanced and to create the necessary conditions to try to prevent people from succumbing to substance abuse."

 --

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!