Minimum alcohol pricing legal?

Further uncertainty overtook the Scottish Government’s plan to set a minimum price for alcohol when the European Court of Justice opposed a similar policy on tobacco. The Court’s advocate-general ruled against proposals by Ireland, France and Austria to set a minimum price on cigarettes, saying it would break competition laws by benefiting manufacturers. The drinks industry in Scotland immediately claimed that the ruling would apply to alcohol as well, and said that the plan for minimum alcohol prices should therefore be abandoned.

However, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon dismissed the industry’s claim, insisting that the court’s ruling on tobacco was “irrelevant”. The leader of SHAAP, (Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems) also defended the policy of minimum pricing.

Ms 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.”