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According to a statement released by the Scotch Whisky Association, a morning business debate at the Scottish Parliament thoroughly rejected Treasury suggestions that strip stamps are a panacea to the duty fraud problem.
Campbell Evans, director of government affairs with The SWA said: “It was an excellent debate. The MSPs spoke with real knowledge and passion in support of the industry. The industry has been campaigning for many months to highlight the myriad of flaws in the strip stamps system and this morning#;s debate shows how many MSPs are now behind us.
“We are keen to work with Customs & Excise to come up with more innovative and effective ways to combat the scourge of duty evasion and the Minister recognised this in his speech. We look forward to the Chancellor commenting on Budget day that the Treasury has taken on board that the alternative solutions put forward will do more to halt fraud than the introduction of strip stamps."