Scottish Government plan internet crackdown on discount drinks

By SCOTT MACNAB
Published on 20/12/2012 14:16

THE Scottish Government could be set to launch an internet crackdown to tackle discount online drink sales.

It is the latest attempt to tackle Scotland’s chronic alcohol problem.

Ministers have already passed legislation which bans discount promotions in supermarkets. Holyrood also plans to introduce a minimum alcohol price although this faces a legal challenge in Europe.

But the latest move has come under fire from the drinks industry which says it “ill-thought through.”

A Scottish Government publication document says it want to address internet sales of alcohol by “extending the Scottish measures such as the multi-buy promotions ban to cover orders dispatched from England but which were `taken’ in Scotland.”

The Scottish Government says that internet sales account for a “fraction” of online sales.

A spokeswoman for the Wine and Spirit Trade Association in Scotland said: “This consultation is littered with ill-thought through proposals, many of which will be unworkable and unenforceable.”