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WSTA chief critical of Welsh government move to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol

Published:  16 July, 2015

The Welsh government has been condemned by a drinks industry leader for following Scotland's lead in outlining plans for minimum unit pricing.

The Welsh government has been condemned by a drink industry leader for following Scotland's lead in outlining plans for minimum unit pricing.

Deputy minister for health Vaughan Gething launched a draft public health bill which proposes setting the limit at 50p per unit.

Scotland's plans for such a move are on hold pending a legal challenge in Europe and it seems certain that the Welsh proposal will face similar opposition.

Gething said: "Evidence shows that introducing [a] minimum unit price of 50p per unit would be effective in reducing alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harms and the costs associated with those harms.

"Minimum unit pricing will affect those drinks sold at an unacceptably low price relative to their alcohol content.

"This is a particularly well-targeted measure as it will only have a small impact on moderate drinkers and have the biggest impact on higher-risk drinkers."

But Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, said the move would "unfairly ramp up the cost of over half of the drinks on supermarket shelves".

He added that it would cost Welsh drinkers an extra £55 million a year extra on their drinks bill "while doing nothing to tackle alcohol harm".

Beale said: "It is entirely wrong that responsible consumers in Wales should be punished for the actions of an irresponsible few.

"The substantial cost of implementation and enforcement, as well as the risk of losing shoppers across the border, is likely to hit Welsh businesses and jobs and the UK Treasury is set to lose out in £11 million in revenues directly.

"There is a question over whether the [Welsh] Assembly will be allowed to fix prices in a competitive market when this is entirely contrary to UK competition law."

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