SALT LAKE CITY, April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Responsible Retailing Forum (RRF), a leading organization in preventing underage sales of alcohol and tobacco, is holding its 9th Annual Responsible Retailing Forum (RRF) in Park City, Utah, from April 12-13, 2011. The meeting is being hosted by Utah's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the theme of this year's conference is: "Leveraging Resources: Non-traditional approaches to achieving responsible retailing in a time of fiscal austerity."

The RRF has found that cooperation among public and private stakeholders is necessary to achieve high standards of responsible retailing (RR) conduct, and that is why the focus of this year's meeting will be community context: What are the necessary components of a community-wide RR program? What are the roles and potential contributions of RR stakeholders, public and private, local and state, in supporting community-based RR systems?

Brad Krevor, President of the RRF, said, "To truly make an impact in stopping the sale of age restricted products to kids, public agencies must work collaboratively with retailers and their suppliers in a problem-solving approach to address community alcohol issues, such as 3rd party sales, fake IDs and furnishing of alcohol to underage users. This year's meeting will focus on a community-based model of responsible retailing that the RRF and its partners will begin field-testing in 2011. The model envisions a single system to support the needs of all retailers that sell alcohol and takes a joint approach to keep our communities – and our kids – safe."

The meeting will be attended by members of the public and private sector, including alcohol regulators, state attorneys general, law enforcement and transportation, retailers and their associations, distributors, alcohol manufactures and other stakeholders representing 24 states.

Gary Zizka, Vice President of Public Policy for Diageo North America, the world's leading premium distilled spirits, beer and wine company, said: "As a longstanding supporter and partner with the Responsible Retailing Forum, Diageo remains steadfastly committed to preventing underage access and supporting evidence-based approaches that make a real impact on this issue. This meeting is an important opportunity to bring a broad array of stakeholders together and better understand how we can leverage our respective resources to promote the work of RRF and help stop the sale of alcohol to kids."

The conference will blend plenary sessions, panels and working groups that address:

• Non-traditional partnerships to foster underage sales prevention.
• Promoting the adoption of RR practices.
• Resources and policies that are needed at the level of community in order to support RR, such as a safe ride home program for impaired customers and availability of clerk and server training.
• How distributors and wholesalers can help promote RR practice by licensees.

For more information, please visit http://www.rrforum.org/conferences_2011.html.

About the Responsible Retailing Forum

The RRF is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization that brings together public and private stakeholders for the dual purposes of (1) identifying, rigorously evaluating and sharing Best Practices for responsible retailing, and (2) examining responsible retailing policy from the perspective of the various diverse stakeholders. For more information about the activities of the RRF visit www.rrforum.org.

SOURCE Responsible Retailing Forum