World Spirits Alliance

Overview

The World Spirits Alliance (WSA) is an international trade association representing producers of distilled spirits globally. Established in 2019 and headquartered in Geneva, WSA serves as a unified voice for the spirits industry, engaging with multilateral institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the United Nations (UN) [1]. WSA presents itself as a stakeholder in health and trade policy, with a mission to promote what it describes as “sustainable growth of the global spirits sector”.

Members

WSA’s membership includes major global spirits producers and regional associations.

Global Spirits Producers

National and Regional Alcohol Industry Associations

  • ABELAC – Asociación de Bebidas Espirituosas de Latinoamérica y el Caribe
  • American Distilled Spirits Alliance
  • abrabe – Associação Brasileira de Bebidas
  • APISWA – Asia Pacific International Spirits & Wine Alliance
  • BNIC Cognac – Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (France)
  • CNIT – Cámara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera (Mexico)
  • Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
  • Drinks Ireland
  • FSPA – The Foreign Spirits Producers Association Limited (Hong Kong)
  • IBRAC – Brazilian Institute of Cachaça
  • ISWAI – International Spirits & Wines Association of India
  • JSLMA – Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association
  • Korean Liquor Industry Association
  • Pisco Chile
  • SALBA – South African Liquor Brandowners Association
  • Spirits & Cocktails Australia
  • Spirits Canada
  • Spirits Europe
  • Spirits New Zealand

Strategic Messaging and Policy Influence

The World Spirits Alliance (WSA) positions itself as a global advocate for the spirits industry, focusing on issues such as free trade, fair taxation, and intellectual property. It emphasizes the sector’s economic contributions, recently claiming that the global spirits industry supports 36 million jobs and contributes US$730 billion to global GDP. These figures come from an industry-funded report and are used by WSA to frame the sector as essential to global prosperity.

However, independent research has repeatedly shown that such economic impact claims are often exaggerated. Methodologies used in industry-sponsored reports tend to inflate job numbers by including indirect and induced employment, or by failing to account for substitution effects – for example, that consumer spending on alcohol might otherwise support employment in healthier or more productive sectors. Moreover, alcohol use is consistently linked to reduced productivity, absenteeism, and premature death – with studies estimating substantial global economic losses due to alcohol harm.

In global alcohol policy debates, WSA engages with institutions like the WHO, WTO, and UN. In its submission to the WHO’s consultation on the Global Alcohol Action Plan, WSA explicitly objected to the Working Document’s focus on reducing per capita alcohol consumption, arguing that this contradicted the Global Alcohol Strategy, UN SDG 3.5, and other UN declarations. WSA also rejected “one-size-fits-all” approaches, such as  evidence-based measures included in WHO’s SAFER initiative, instead advocating for a “flexible menu” of policy options tailored to national contexts.

This framing is aligns with broader alcohol industry strategies to undermine and delay evidence-based action. The WHO, OECD, and independent researchers consistently highlight population-level measures – especially alcohol taxation, limitations of marketing, and availability – as the most effective ways to prevent and reduce alcohol harm. WSA’s advocacy for “flexibility” and its rejection of universal approaches serve to protect commercial interests at the expense of public health.