Scotch Whisky Association

From Powerbase
Revision as of 22:55, 17 March 2010 by Claire Harkins (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search
Alcohol badge.jpg This article is part of the Spinwatch public health oriented Alcohol Portal project.

Scotch Whisky is a leading Scottish export, worth over £2bn annually to the UK economy. To qualify as Scotch, whisky must be distilled in Scotland, though bottling can take place anywhere. The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is a licensed trade association which represents over 95% of the Scotch whisky producers. The association is headed by an annually elected council of 12-16 members. The council then establishes committees to focus on areas of particular interest to the association's members. The group have offices in Edinburgh and London. According to their website the association aims to:

  • To protect the integrity of Scotch Whisky worldwide
  • To promote responsible attitudes to alcohol consumption
  • To secure fair and equal access to international markets
  • To tackle tax discrimination and secure appropriate regulation of the industry
  • To promote Scotch Whisky as a quality product made from natural raw materials
  • To represent the industry's interests at governmental level both at home and abroad

[1] On the voluntary European Commission register of interests SWA list their fields of interest for e-mail alerts on consultation as agriculture competition, consumer affairs, customs, enlargement, enterprise, environment, external relations, external trade, food safety, internal market, public health and taxation [2]. This extensive list of interests gives some insight into the extent to which the organisation is involved in key public debates within European policy circles.

Minimum Pricing

The Scotch Whisky Association has been one of the key alcohol industry organisations lobbying against the introduction of a minimum pricing for alcohol, together with the Wine and Spirits Association and the British Retail Consortium. The Scottish Government published a bill in November 2009 that contained plans to reduce overall consumption of alcohol in Scotland by a range of measures including the proposed minimum price per unit of alcohol. Weeks before the bill was published the SWA invited public affairs and lobbying companies to support their opposition to the inclusion of minimum pricing. An internal SWA document voiced concerns that the step to improve public health in Scotland would have a negative impact on international sales. [3] According to Bryan Christie, writing in the BMJ:

The Scotch Whisky Association’s docu¬ment says that “a more assertive and populist message is now thought to be necessary with the clear objective of securing the absence of minimum pricing in the Bill and from the final Act.” It says that the key audiences are the media, consumers, and trade, “with the objective of removing any popular and politi¬cal support for minimum pricing.” [4]


Affiliations

Current Directors

[15]

Past Board Members

[16]

Members

[17]

Minimum Pricing

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is fiercley opposed to the introduction of minimum pricing per unit of alcohol which is supported by the public health community and the Scottish Government. SWA have been at the forefront of challenging the proposed legislation in Scotland. They claim that under European Law imposing a minimum price is against economic competition law and use the example of the European Court's rejection of the implementation of a minimum price for tobacco in France, Austria and Ireland. [18] As the SWA will know the European Court is not bound by previous rulings and therefore if it can be convinced that the measure is a step towards improving public health it may well rule in favour of minimum pricing. The Scottish Labour Party echoed the calls of hte SWA and asked the Scottish Government to state the legal basis for their plans to protect public health. Then shadow health spokesperson for Labour Cathy Jamieson said: "We have always said that the legal basis for the SNP's minimum pricing policy needed clarification." [19]

References

  1. ↑ SWA Website About SWA Last Accessed 2nd July 2007
  2. ↑ European Commission Register of Interest Representatives Scotch Whisky Association accessed 25th November 2009
  3. ↑ Bryan Christie 2009, Fear of minimum alcohol pricing spreading to other countries led to opposition in Scotland BMJ 2009;339:b5339 accessed 17th March 2010
  4. ↑ Bryan Christie 2009, Fear of minimum alcohol pricing spreading to other countries led to opposition in Scotland BMJ 2009;339:b5339 accessed 17th March 2010
  5. ↑ Federation Against Software Theft Lobbying & Liaising accessed 2nd February 2010
  6. ↑ Whisky News, June 26 2007 Global Market Review of Blended Whisky – Forecasts to 2012 accessed 9th October 2009
  7. ↑ Inverhouse History accessed 9th October 2009
  8. ↑ Scotsman Business 24th August 2009 Diageo set to report slide in sales after downturn kicks in accessed 9th October2009
  9. ↑ Beam Global Wine and Spirits, Who We Are accessed 9th October
  10. ↑ Scotsman Business 13th July 2008 Dewar's whisky boss Gray set to go accessed 9th October 2009
  11. ↑ Whisky Pages Whisky News, August 2009 accessed 9th October
  12. ↑ Equinet The Bowmore Blair Castle International Horse Trials and Country Fair accessed 9th October 2009
  13. ↑ Pernod Ricard Pierre Pringuet accessed 9th October 2009
  14. ↑ Campden FB Tuesday 13th May 2008 Whisky company toasts fifth-generation chairman accessed 9th October 2009
  15. ↑ FAME Business Database Subscription Required
  16. ↑ FAME Business Database Subscription Required
  17. ↑ SWA Website Members Directory Last Accessed 2nd July 2007
  18. ↑ Scotch Whisky Association 22nd October 2009 MINIMUM PRICING ILLEGAL EUROPEAN COURT RULES accessed 23rd February 2010
  19. ↑ BBC News Scotland 22nd October 2009 Court ruling on minimum pricing accessed 23rd February 2010
Retrieved from "https://powerbase.info/index.php?title=Scotch_Whisky_Association&oldid=111835"