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Still time for you and your suppliers to get involved in Call Time On Duty campaign

There is still time to make sure your voice is heard in the industry's bid to get the Chancellor to finally Call Time On Duty and scrap the duty escalator on wine and spirits in the 2014 Budget. Harpers has also teamed up the Wine & Spirit Trade Association to give wine producers and drinks manufacturers the chance to take part in the Call Time On Duty campaign and make the government aware of the serious concerns they have about the alcohol duty levels in the UK. Here's how you and your supplier can get involved.

Together Harpers and the WSTA have drafted an open letter for producers of wine and spirits to give their support to an industry-wide campaign to get the Chancellor of the Exchequer to halt the duty escalator of alcohol in the 2014 Budget. Please see the full letter below and attached.

The move will add further weight to the WSTA-led campaign, alongside the Scotch Whisky Association and TaxPayers Alliance, that is already looking to galvanise the average drinker and members of the UK wine and spirits industry, by sending an open letter to their local MP calling on them to support the call for a freeze in the duty escalator in the 2014 Budget.

The Call Time on Duty campaign sets out the political, economic and public arguments for a freeze in the duty escalator on wine and spirits.

WSTA-commissioned research from Ernst & Young shows that if the duty escalator was halted in the 2014 Budget it would create 6,000 new jobs and raise £230 m in extra revenue for the Treasury. Subscribers can read the full report on Harpers.co.uk here.

The open letter from drinks producers, looking to distribute wine and spirits in the UK from overseas, points out how high the UK's alcohol duty rates are compared to the rest of the European Union.

It makes clear that if the government is not willing to change its alcohol duty strategy then some drinks producers will be forced to stop selling their product in the UK and switch distribution to more profitable parts of the EU.

It points out that the duty rates on alcohol now means that it accounts for nearly 80% of a bottle of spirits and nearly 60% of a bottle of wine.

To take part a producer simply has to send an email stating their support for the open letter from drinks producers to the Chancellor to publicaffairs@wsta.co.uk and to harpers.editorial@wrb.com stating who they are, their position, their company and what type of business they do in the UK.

So please get your supplies and producers involved in this industry campaign and make it clear to the government the damage its duty strategy is having on potential business in the UK.

All replies both from trade responses and from wine producers will be collated and sent together Adirect to the Chancellor.

All members of the UK wine and spirits industry can get involved by sending an open letter to their local MP setting out the arguments for the campaign and calling on their support. The open letter can be found on the dedicated Call Time On Duty website or by clicking here.

The full producer letter to the Chancellor is presented below: 

Letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

As a producer of wines and/or spirits who exports to the UK, I am writing to express my support for the 'Call Time On Duty' campaign, which is calling for an end to the UK alcohol duty escalator. I am concerned about the UK's high rates of excise duty on alcohol, particularly about the impact of the escalator, which is undermining the competitiveness of the UK market as an attractive export destination.

As an exporter to the UK I find it incredible that in the UK nearly 80% of an average priced bottle of spirits and approaching 60% of the cost of an average priced bottle of wine is accounted for in tax. This is ridiculously high, especially if you consider that the tax on an average priced bottle of wine in France is only 20% and in Spain 21%. Incredibly the UK now pays nearly 40% of all alcohol duty in the EU, this equates to over two-thirds of all wine duty in the EU and a quarter of all spirits duty.

I just cannot see how it is fair to hit exporters with an alcohol super tax that keeps on rising by 2% above inflation, year on year, particularly given the UK is one of the world's largest wine markets. The cost of excise duty is already high enough without further increasing the tax on wine and spirits, which is what will happen unless time is called on this unpopular alcohol super tax in the 2014 Budget.

I know that you have spoken of creating new jobs and cutting taxes. Scrapping the escalator would do both. Independent research from EY (Ernst and Young) shows that 6,000 new jobs could be created and £230 million of additional public finances generated by ending the escalator one year early.

Scrapping the duty escalator and freezing further inflationary increases would also help to support struggling British pubs. Retaining the duty escalator on wines and spirits in 2013 increased the tax bill for pubs, bars and restaurants by £34 million. This simply does not make sense when 26 million people in the UK drink wine in pubs, bars and restaurants, and wine and spirits already account for almost half (42%) of their alcohol sales.

Almost two million people in the UK depend on the alcohol industry for their livelihoods, while the industry generates £38 billion for the economy annually and pays £17 billion in tax. Responsible drinkers deserve a freeze in alcohol duty, not another inflation-busting tax hike.

As a producer and exporter to the UK, I fear that the UK market is no longer the attractive destination it once was, putting at risk further investment in jobs and economic growth. It is certainly affecting my company's decision on doing business in the UK. 

We urge you to use the 2014 Budget to do the right thing and scrap this deeply unpopular super tax, which is an increasingly prohibitive barrier to trade.

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