Science & Policy

What goes in the IARD Policy Tables?

The IARD policy tables collect legislation, regulations, and guidelines set by governments and health authorities in all countries for which IARD has been able to verify the information with the respective national authorities or through publicly accessible documents. These tables include the minimum legal age limits for the purchase, sale, and consumption of alcohol; labeling requirements for bottles plus health warning requirements for labels and at point of sale; blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers; and drinking guidelines for the general population and for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

The tables are updated on an ongoing basis through monitoring of news sources. Periodically, each table is updated in full by newly performing searches as outlined below and verifying the contents against reference documents.

Contents of IARD’S Policy Tables

What is included	What is NOT included	IARD typically verifies table information via:
Drinking guidelines general population
General population Elderly Young people Guidance provided by government institutions directly to the public on alcohol consumption	Guidance on drinking levels from SAOs, NGOs, or research institutes that are not mandated by the government for this specific purpose Standards of clinical care, technical guidance for medical professionals or other providers.	Health ministry website, sections on prevention (general, of NCDs, of alcohol misuse / addictions) Websites of national health promotion institutions, national institutions focused on preventing harmful drinking Websites of national institutions that produce or disseminate dietary guidelines (include only if these are endorsed by the government for issuing such guidelines); see for example https://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/food-dietary-guidelines/en
Drinking guidelines pregnancy and breastfeeding
Guidance provided by government institutions directly to the public on alcohol consumption when attempting to conceive, while pregnant, and while breastfeeding	Guidance on drinking levels from SAOs, NGOs, or research institutes that are not mandated by the government for this specific purpose Standards of clinical care, technical guidance for medical professionals or other providers	Same as above Health ministry website sections on health when attempting to conceive, while pregnant, and while breastfeeding Resources aimed at the public provided by national programs to support healthy pregnancy, infancy, and breastfeeding
Health warning labeling requirements
On marketing communications Messages (text and images) that are required to be included in advertisements across media types These may be required by: Law and regulation Self- or co-regulation codes of private sector bodies in the marketing and alcohol sectors Definitions of alcohol beverages that this requirement applies to, for example, what beverage types or ABV threshold	Public information campaigns that government institutions are required to carry out for health promotion and prevention of harmful drinking	Legislation, regulations, and stand-alone decrees about broadcast media, print media, and advertising online Self-regulation codes by national marketing associations which may be specific to certain media, for example, outdoor advertising Self-regulation codes by national and regional trade associations for alcohol beverages
At point of sale Messages (text and images) that are required to be displayed where alcohol beverages are sold to consumers: both in retail (off-premise) and in restaurant and bar settings (on-premise) These may be required by: Law and regulation Self- or co-regulation codes of private sector bodies in the marketing and alcohol sectors		Legislation, regulations, and stand-alone decrees about broadcast media, print media, and advertising online Self-regulation codes by national marketing associations which may be specific to certain media, for example, outdoor advertising Self-regulation codes by national and regional trade associations for alcohol beverages
On labels Messages (text and images) that are required to be included on alcohol beverage labels, by category of beverage. These may be required by: These may be required by: Law and regulation Self- or co-regulation codes of private sector bodies in the marketing and alcohol sectors	Allergens, genetically-modified organisms Halal, kosher, or other religion-based information	National and regional legislation, regulation, stand-alone decreed, and technical standards on: Prepackaged food labeling Alcohol beverages / alcohol beverage labeling Self-regulation codes by national/regional trade associations for alcohol beverages
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Limits
BAC limit BrAC limit Blood and breath alcohol concentrations that constitute offenses when driving, for the following groups: General population Learner drivers Novice drivers Young drivers Commercial or professional drivers Note that these are only detailed for individual groups where the limits differ	Often the BAC/BrAC will be found in the definitions section of the law or a stand-alone regulation/ decree that defines what the law refers to as for example “under the influence of alcohol” or “the prescribed limit”. 0.0 limits are not included unless the law or regulation specifically contains these Note that IARD typically reflects the lowest limit that an offense is defined for, whether that offense is administrative or criminal.	Traffic law, road traffic law, road safety law, and regulations Administrative and criminal offenses law
Minimum legal age limits
On-premise sale The minimum age at which a person may be sold alcohol beverages for on-premise consumption; that is, at restaurants, bars, and other venues where consumption happens on site Any exceptions that may apply, for example, being accompanied by parent / guardian or attending an establishment serving meals		Child protection law Health law or law specific to preventing harmful drinking Administrative and criminal offense law Law on trade in alcohol beverages Law on licensing of premises Excise law and regulation
Off-premise sale The minimum age at which a person may be sold alcohol beverages for off-premise consumption; that is, places where consumption is not permitted to take place on site, such as grocery stores and specialized stores for take-away beverages
Supply by any person The minimum age at which a person may be provided alcohol beverages free of cost
Consumption The minimum age at which a person may consume alcohol beverages In case no minimum age is identified, these elements can be summarized thus and with details in the Notes field: [prohibited] if there is universal prohibition [none found] if no information is found and reports from WHO or other sources indicate that a limit is not established/li> [varies by beverage] if the limits are not the same for all alcohol beverages, and add details to Notes field [varies by jurisdiction] if the limit is not at national/federal but a lower level of governance, and add details to Notes field [varies by religion] if there is selective prohibition based on religion, and add details to Notes field
Age verification requirements Specific methods for named responsible parties (for example, license holders, venue managers, online delivery persons) must verify customer age (for example, by examining documents or by electronic means. Summarized thus and with details in the Notes field: yes [none found] if no information is found [n/a] if sale is prohibited

Global Standards

Access IARD’s online, interactive resource for line managers

Science & Policy

Alcohol and health trends by country based on WHO data

News & Resources

Underage drinking 2025 Update

What goes in the IARD Policy Tables?

Contents of IARD’S Policy Tables