The voice of the wine and spirit industry

Response to Scotland’s Court of Session decision on Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP)

Earlier today the Scottish Court of Session dismissed the petition for judicial review of minimum unit pricing brought by the Scotch Whisky Association.

Commenting on the Court of Session decision Miles Beale, Chief Executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association said:

“While this decision is disappointing, it is just the first step in a long legal process. The Scotch Whisky Association’s decision to appeal is the right one and we support it. We are particularly concerned that the Judge has failed to refer this matter to the European Court of Justice. The European Commission and some 10 Member States have expressed their concerns about the legality of MUP under EU law.

“Minimum unit pricing is an ineffective measure which will punish the majority of responsible drinkers through higher prices, particularly those on the lowest incomes. If MUP is introduced in Scotland, the UK risks retaliatory action that would undermine the UK’s wine and spirit sector - which is worth £37 billion to the UK economy. It would also put at risk over 2 million UK jobs.

“While legal action is likely to go on for many months the industry remains committed to making real and measurable progress to reducing alcohol related harm in Scotland through the Scottish Government Alcohol Industry Partnership and the Public Health Responsibility Deal.”

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The WSTA is the UK organisation for the wine and spirit industry representing over 340 companies producing, importing, transporting and selling wines and spirits. We campaign to promote the industry’s interests with governments at home and abroad. We work with our members to promote the responsible production, marketing and sale of alcohol.

For more information please contact William Boyack:

Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7089 3884

Mob:  +44 (0) 7948 329001

Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WSTA trade diary goes from strength to strength

The WSTA is encouraging more people from across the wine and spirits trade to sign up to its updated Trade Diary and free app, as new figures show that since its launch almost 1300 people have downloaded the free Trade Diary app.

The WSTA Trade Diary is where all major tastings and trade events are listed. The diary has now been improved to make it more streamlined and even easier to navigate through the various wine and spirit trade events taking place across the UK.

As well as improvements to the diary events can now be accessed and information uploaded using an improved smartphone app. The revitalised app enables users to browse events and to synchronise these to a smartphone calendar.

WSTA Membership & Marketing Manager, Louise Vaux said: 

“These new figures show that we are getting good pick up for the trade diary and we want to share this great service with as many people in the trade as possible, particularly those who are planning or hosting new events.

“We know that existing users value our diary for planning purposes and to get information about upcoming tastings and events. I hope these new developments will make life a little bit easier.

“The free trade diary app means you can load save and synchronise diary events on the go and view events on a map, based on your location."

The WSTA Trade Diary apps are available free via the following links:

Iphone:  http://itunes.apple.com/app/wsta/id484525858?mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appetise.wsta&;feature=search_result

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The WSTA is the voice of the wine and spirit industry, representing over 340 companies producing, importing and selling wines and spirits. We campaign to promote the industry’s interests with governments at home and abroad and work with our members to promote the responsible production, marketing and sale of alcohol.

For more information please contact:

Louise Vaux

Tel:      +44 (0) 20 7089 3877

Email:    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Women bear the brunt as beer tax cut wiped out by wine and spirit increases

New analysis from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has found that the financial benefit that pubs might expect from the beer tax cut will be wiped out by the wines and spirits tax rises, with women bearing the brunt of the costs in both the on and off-trade.

New analysis shows that if alcohol sales in the on trade continue at a similar level to last year, pubs, clubs and bars will be paying almost £34 million extra in tax in 2013/14 compared to 2012/13. By continuing the duty escalator on all other alcohol products the Chancellor has increased the tax burden across the entire trade by £292 million.

Women are expected to be hardest hit by these price rises paying out some £65 million more than men – 61% of the total. Figures show that 63% of what women drink is wine, compared to 33% for men. Women also drink more spirits than men – 22% compared to 13%. In comparison, 51% of what men drink is lager or ale – while this figure sits at 8% for women.

Wine and Spirit Trade Association Chief Executive Miles Beale said:

“The Chancellor aimed to support pubs with a tax cut for beer in the Budget, but the fact is that his tax rises of over 5% on wines and spirits will wipe out the tax cut for beer and add another £34m to the tax bill for the on trade. We are concerned that women look set to be penalised by wine and spirit price increases across the board, simply because they make different choices about what to drink.”

With wine and spirits now accounting for 41% of the value of products sold in the on-trade, the only way the Chancellor can genuinely help pubs is to scrap the hated duty escalator for wine and spirits too.”

Introduced in 2008, the alcohol duty escalator increases taxation by 2% above retail price index inflation each year. The latest 5.3% tax increase announced in Budget 2013 added another 10p to a bottle of wine and 53p to a litre bottle of spirits. Since the introduction of the duty escalator, wine duty has increased by 50% and spirits duty by 44% - adding an additional 67p to a bottle of wine and £2.38 to a 70cl bottle of vodka in just five years.

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Notes to Editors

Impact on duty changed on taxation, based on same sales levels as 2012/13:

On trade

Product Change

Beer

-£44,290,864.80

Wine

£28,888,776.00

Spirits

£36,750,240.00

RTD

£3,916,980.00

Cider

£6,678,936.00

Sparkling/Champ

£2,109,852.00

Total:

£34,053,919.20

Off trade

Beer

-£32,951,318.40

Wine

£128,783,796.00

Spirits

£134,344,800.00

RTD

£4,323,060.00

Cider

£11,343,024.00

Sparkling/Champ

£12,454,272.00

£258,297,633.60

Based on Nielsen Sales Data

4.2% Average ABV of beer from BBPA

Tax rates from HMRC (2012/13)

Duty increases:

• Duty on a 750ml bottle of wine is now £2 up by 10p • Duty on a 70cl bottle of vodka at 37.5% is now £7.41 up by 37p • Duty on a litre bottle of vodka at 37.5% is now £10.58 up by 53p • Duty on a 70cl Bottle of gin at 40% is now £7.90 39p • Duty on a litre bottle of gin at 40% is now £11.29p up by 57p

Additional VAT

If this cost were to be passed on directly to the price the addition VAT would be:

Wine at 750ml – 2p

Vodka 37.5% at 70cl -7.4p

Vodka 37.5% at 1ltr – 10.6p

Gin 40% at 70cl - 7.8p

Gin 40% at 1ltr –  11p

Male / female drinks preferences:

Survey Source: YouGov Omnibus Panel Nov 2012, Wilson Drinks Report analysis Base size: 1,693 British adult drinkers

The WSTA is the UK organisation for the wine and spirit industry representing over 340 companies producing, importing, transporting and selling wines and spirits.

We campaign to promote the industry’s interests with governments at home and abroad.

We work with our members to promote the responsible production, marketing and sale of alcohol.

For more information please contact Aileen Keyes:

Tel:         +44 (0) 20 7089 3881

Mob:     +44 (0) 7504 498 656

Email:    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WSTA slams inflation busting tax hikes on wines and spirits

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has today condemned the Chancellor for pushing ahead with inflation busting alcohol tax rises on wines and spirits for the fifth year in a row, through the much hated Alcohol Duty Escalator.

The Escalator, which has increased taxation by 2% above RPI inflation each year since 2008, will add another 10p to a bottle of wine and 53p to a litre bottle of spirits after the 5.3% rise announced today.

The latest rise means that consumers will have seen wine duty increase by 50% and spirits duty by 44% since the escalator was introduced in 2008 putting an additional 67p on a bottle of wine and £2.38 on a 70cl bottle of vodka. This comes despite many consumers struggling with stagnating wages and the rising cost of living.

Commenting on the Budget, Wine and Spirit Trade Association Chief Executive Miles Beale said:

"This is bad news for the UK wine and spirits sector, with year on year duty increases hitting consumers and businesses hard. It makes little sense to single out beer, particularly as there is a legal precedent to suggest Government is unable to do so.

If this was designed as a measure to support pubs it seems misplaced: over 41% of drinks sold in pubs are wine and spirits, contributing £9.4 billion per year.  The Chancellor’s decision ignores the growing value of the English wine industry and the UK spirits industry, which accounts for 18% of all jobs in the EU spirits industry.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Duty increases:

• Duty on a 750ml bottle of wine is now £2 up by 10p

• Duty on a 70cl bottle of vodka at 37.5% is now £7.41 up by 37p

• Duty on a litre bottle of vodka at 37.5% is now £10.58 up by 53p

• Duty on a 70cl Bottle of gin at 40% is now £7.90 39p

• Duty on a litre bottle of gin at 40% is now £11.29p up by 57p

Additional VAT

If this cost were to be passed on directly to the price the addition VAT would be:

Wine at 750ml – 2p

Vodka 37.5% at 70cl -7.4p

Vodka 37.5% at 1ltr – 10.6p

Gin 40% at 70cl - 7.8p

Gin 40% at 1ltr –  11p

RPI Inflation:

For the purposes of Alcohol Duty the Government work out RPI inflation as the average of the RPI six months prior to the budget and the six months after the budget.

For full details go to the Budget reports here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/indirect-taxes.htm

The WSTA is the UK organisation for the wine and spirit industry representing over 340 companies producing, importing, transporting and selling wines and spirits.

We campaign to promote the industry’s interests with governments at home and abroad.

We work with our members to promote the responsible production, marketing and sale of alcohol.

For more information please contact Aileen Keyes:

Tel:         +44 (0) 20 7089 3881

Mob:     +44 (0) 7504 498 656

Email:    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.