Yoon and Lam BMC Public Health 2012, 12:717 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/717 From the perspective of public health, it is important to debunk the alcohol industry’s misleading narratives, and to critically assess the impact of the Hong Kong Government’s policy decision on the zero beer and wine tax. In this sense, this paper raises more questions than it answers. For instance, is the overall trend in early-age alcohol uptake and alcohol consumption by the youth in Hong Kong expected to escalate since they are more sensitive to a drop in price? What would be the external costs of the abolition of the alcohol tax? Can we observe any changes in crime, homicide, domestic violence, sui- cide, and productivity losses associated with the con- sumption of alcohol? More fundamentally, even if the abolition of the tax on alcohol would bring economic benefits, what would be the gains and losses in govern- ment revenue and what are the opportunity costs fore- gone? What would be the long-term public health implications and resultant social costs of such a policy? In terms of the provision of public goods, would the economic benefits of the abolition of the alcohol tax ad- equately compensate for this? How are the economic benefits distributed in Hong Kong society to justify such a sacrifice in terms of public health? Would the profits earned be concentrated in the hands of a few companies that only profess verbally to have Hong Kong’s interests at heart? From a regional perspective, to what extent does the transformation of Hong Kong into a wine hub affect alcohol use in neighboring areas in Asia and Mainland China? Does the regional public health com- munity follow the impact and prepare other countries to anticipate similar industry initiatives since Hong Kong provides an excellent industry playbook? Hong Kong is a unique opportunity to examine such effects as no other jurisdiction has adopted such an unprecedented policy of alcohol taxation. Conclusions This paper explored the successful influence of the alco- hol industry in shaping the policy agenda and determin- ing the policy outcome towards a tax-free environment for alcohol in Hong Kong. It reviewed key tactics and rhetoric employed by the alcohol industry to lobby for the abolishment of alcohol duties. This paper illustrates that in the absence of public health advocacy, the alco- hol industry is able to successfully form alliances, frame policy issues on alcohol, and directly exert influence on policy making. This suggests that strong public health alliances and advocacy are needed to counteract the industry’s aggressive lobbying and promotion and to demonstrate the spuriousness of the industry’s claims [78]. The present case study from Hong Kong indicates the urgency for research and actions on alcohol control. Page 10 of 12 Abbreviations HKBIC: The Hong Kong Beer Industry Coalition; HKSAR: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; HKWIC: The Hong Kong Wine Industry Coalition; HKWSIC: The Hong Kong Wine & Spirits Industry Coalition; CSO: Civil Society Organizations; NGO: Non-Governmental Organizations; WHO: World Health Organisation. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions SY performed the analysis and drafted the manuscript. THL conceived of the study and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Marcus Daniel Yuri Chi, a medical student of the University of Hong Kong, who helped collect the data for this study. The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable comments and suggestions provided by four referees. Received: 15 March 2012 Accepted: 10 August 2012 Published: 30 August 2012 References 1. 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