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Scotland’s Health Secretary Responds To Minimum Pricing of Alcohol

Source: Scottish Government
Posted on: 23rd October 2009

Responding to a news release claiming that minimum pricing for alcohol is “illegal”, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:

“It is entirely inappropriate and irrelevant to translate an opinion on tobacco to the totally different issue of minimum pricing of alcoholic products per unit of alcohol for public health reasons. We are well aware of these cases, and the relevant Directive – 95/59/EC – is specifically about the excise duty on manufactured tobacco and has nothing to do with alcohol products.

“In fact, the European Commission has already said that Community legislation does not prohibit minimum pricing for alcohol on public health grounds. Obviously, we rely on our own legal advice to progress this policy which is fair, proportionate and necessary to protect public health in Scotland.

“The issue here is ending a situation where three-litre bottles of chemical cider are sold for £3, or 700ml bottles of industrial vodka for less than £7. These are the products favoured by problem drinkers and are exactly the ones that will be targeted by minimum pricing – not quality products sold at responsible prices.

“Minimum pricing of alcohol has broad support base among medical experts, the police and the pub trade. Just last week, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England, the UK Government’s expert advisory body on medical treatment, strongly backed minimum pricing as a way of reducing consumption among harmful and hazardous drinkers.”

Topics: alcohol, alcohol products, chemical cider, community legislation, European Commission, Governance, Health Care, Health Secretary, industrial vodka, minumum pricing, problem drinkers, public health, Scotland, tobacco