WHISKY STRIP STAMP

Motion Text

That this House notes with concern the announcement by the Chancellor in the pre-Budget report that a tax stamp may be put on every bottle of whisky sold, which would be a burden to the industry and cost jobs; believes that whilst effective measures must be taken against fraud, this scheme as a device to prevent it is fundamentally flawed; further notes that the Department of Trade and Industry in 1997 wrote to the Norwegian Government when it was considering a similar scheme to warn that it was likely to be inefficient and ineffective as a means of combating fraud and illicit trade; further notes that it would apply to spirits only and not to wine and therefore would discriminate against home-produced drinks and in favour of imported wines; further notes that the US, Greece and Ecuador have abolished strip stamps, whilst Germany, Belgium and Norway have abandoned plans to introduce them; and believes that addressing the problem of the high level of duty on Scotch whisky would be a better policy for the UK Government to pursue.