Focus - Minimum alcohol pricing

Ben Cooper reports on the prospects for minimum alcohol pricing in the UK and Europe.

Focus - Is minimum alcohol pricing dead in the water?

23 February 2010

Plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland appear to be faltering, while political support for such a move south of the border appears thin on the ground. With questionable legality under EU law a key stumbling block, Ben Cooper examines the question of minimum pricing in the context of the wider alcohol policy debate in the EU.

UK: Drinks firms failing on labelling deal, says Government

15 February 2010

Alcoholic drinks firms may face mandatory labelling rules in the UK after a Government report revealed that the industry is failing to abide by a voluntary agreement to warn of the dangers of harmful drinking.

UK: Minimum pricing could cost Scotch whisky GBP600m

11 February 2010

A minimum price on alcoholic drinks in Scotland could cost the Scotch whisky industry up to GBP600m (US$937m), with authorities in key export markets likely to follow Scotland's lead, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has warned.

UK: Competition regulator against minimum pricing on alcohol

11 September 2009

The head of the UK's Office of Fair Trading has spoken out against minimum pricing, as just-drinks understands from sources that the regulator has objected to a minimum price on alcohol in Scotland.