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MUP On Alcohol A Sad Day For The Internal Market, Says SpiritsEurope

By Donna Ahern
MUP On Alcohol A Sad Day For The Internal Market, Says SpiritsEurope

SpirtsEurope, a representative group for the European alcoholic spirits sector, has said that the recent decision by the Scottish Supreme Court to give the go ahead for the introduction of minimum unit pricing on alcohol is ‘a sad day for the internal market’, according to a statement.

Scotland has become the first country in the world to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol.

The Supreme Court said that minimum pricing targets the health hazards of cheap alcohol and the groups most affected in a way that an increase in excise or value-added-tax does not.

Appeal Dismissed

Yesterday, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by The Scotch Whisky Association as well as SpiritsEurope and the Comite Vins.

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"We remain convinced there are more appropriate, proportionate and effective responses to tackle harmful use of beer, wine and spirits drinks.” Joep Stassen, president of SpiritsEurope said.

SpiritsEurope said that it believes the decision creates an ‘unwelcome precedent for fair competition between alcohol beverage producers and for the proper functioning of the internal market’, and the introduction of MUP is 'unnecessary given the raft of measures already introduced by the Scottish government to tackle harmful drinking'.

Stassen added, “We nevertheless accept that MUP will now be introduced in Scotland, and hope to see an objective assessment of its impact both on the harmful use of alcohol and on the ability of cheaper imports to compete in the Scottish market.”

© 2017 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern

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