Quentin Rappoport, director of the UK’s Wine and Spirit Association, has hit back at last week’s announcement by the UK Sentencing Advisory Panel that alcohol smuggling and bootlegging “is a non-violent, non-sexual offence, with no direct personal victim”.
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The Panel is recommending that smaller scale smugglers are dealt with more leniently by the courts. But Rappoport said: “However small scale, alcohol smuggling is not a victimless crime. Bootlegged alcohol has the potential to get into the hands of underage drinkers since it is a totally unregulated route to market, and this is a matter for serious concern, with wide social consequences.
“It should, however, be noted that legitimate cross border shoppers have a right to bring back alcohol from abroad without fear of prosecution. The real issue, therefore, is about identifying and punishing the real criminals without tarring innocent day-trippers with the same brush.”
Rappoport continued: “This announcement is yet another example of policy makers fiddling at the edges but not getting to the heart of the matter. Disproportionately high duty is the reason that smuggling is a problem in the UK. The Government needs to bring our excise rates in line with our European neighbours in order to stamp out bootlegging.”
