"GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO BE A CHAMPION FOR SCOTCH"

The government should reduce the high and discriminatory duty on Scotch Whisky at the earliest opportunity in order to protect Scotch Whisky jobs and UK sales, a report from the University of Paisley published today recommends.

Commenting on the report’s conclusion that tax discrimination worldwide is the major constraint on the industry’s ability to grow sales and thus sustain and increase jobs, Bill Speirs, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, said: "The industry needs a champion and that can only be the UK government".

The report, ‘The Scotch Whisky industry - current performance and future prospects’, notes the decline in numbers employed in the industry over the last 20 years. The lead of the British government in setting an example, to the EU and others, that discriminatory taxation is unacceptable, is seen as vital to improve sales and job prospects according to the report’s authors Professor Mike Danson and Geoff Whittam.

Mr Speirs added: "The Scotch Whisky industry makes a vital contribution to the well-being of our economy. Despite recent reductions, the industry continues to support tens of thousands of jobs across Scotland. The STUC believes that the best way to secure these vital jobs is by growing the market for Scotch. That makes it important that the public agencies, including the Scottish Tourist Board, work with the industry to promote its development. But, as today’s report highlights, current growth prospects within the UK and in export markets remain severely hindered by an out-dated tax system which has Scotch Whisky taxed one and a half times more heavily than wine."

The Director General of The Scotch Whisky Association, Hugh Morison, added: "This report reinforces the message which the Association and the STUC have been making to government over the years, that the current system makes it more difficult for the industry to increase sales and damages job opportunities in Scotland. The Chancellor has an early opportunity to act on this report by commencing a series of duty cuts on Scotch Whisky in his Budget next week. We welcome this new study and urge the government to act without delay by cutting duty here, and by pressing for a reduction in the tax discrimination faced by Scotch across the EU and elsewhere."

The paper also calls for tourist authorities and other agencies to work more closely with the industry, and for the industry to consider ways of better educating consumers and the hospitality trade about Scotch Whisky.