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Food Standards Australia New Zealand's pregnancy warning label will be mandatory.

The label,approved despite lobbying from alcohol industry representatives who argued it would cost manufacturers too much to use red ink,will replace the current voluntary DrinkWise label,which FSANZ found was ineffective.

Federal food minister Richard Colbeck,who chairs the ministerial forum,proposed an amendment to remove the red ink requirement,which was supported by New South Wales,South Australia and Queensland but voted down by New Zealand,Western Australia,Victoria,Tasmania,the Northern Territory and the ACT.

"The intent of the amendment ... was to achieve the pregnancy warning objective while at the same time minimising the cost and regulatory burden on business,particularly small and medium enterprises,in these challenging economic times,"a statement released by Senator Colbeck's office said.

Manufacturers will have three years to implement the new label across all alcoholic beverages. The label will be on alcohol bottles of 200ml or more,with smaller bottles to display the pictogram,which will now have to be black,white and red.

Senator Colbeck said the federal government was"strongly committed to mandatory pregnancy warning labels on alcoholic beverages to inform pregnant women and the broader community of the advice for pregnant women to not consume alcohol in order to prevent Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder"[FASD].

The label reflects changes made by FSANZ after the ministerial forum ordered it to reconsider an earlier version that carried the words"HEALTH WARNING"instead of"PREGNANCY WARNING",and which would have required implementation within two years.

Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin welcomed the decision to put"stronger and more visible pregnancy health warnings on alcohol,"which he said would"protect the health and future of thousands of Australian children".

"It's been a long road to this decision,with mandatory labels having been discussed for more than a decade,"Mr Slevin said.

"Finally,this label will provide clear,visible information to help increase awareness of the harms."

Alcohol Beverages Australia chief executive Andrew Wilsmore said the industry was"deeply disappointed"with the decision,saying the new label would"impose substantial unnecessary costs on producers."

"But we're extremely disappointed that some ministers have chosen to ignore the voices of thousands of small brewers,winemakers and distillers across the country,"Mr Wilsmore said.

He said the strict red-black-white colour scheme would cost producers"hundreds of millions of dollars per year"and that"even poison labels don't have to meet those requirements".

Mr Wilsmore said the industry supported making pregnancy warning labels mandatory,but manufacturers wanted to be able to choose their own"contrasting"colour scheme.

NOFASD Australia chief operating officer Sophie Harrington said tens of thousands of Australian families impacted by FASD would be celebrating the decision,"because they know how significantly this lifelong disability affects the health and wellbeing of our loved ones".

"This new mandatory label will go a long way to improve community awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol throughout pregnancy,and will result in fewer babies born with FASD in years to come,"she said.

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