You are here:

Alcohol and spirit drinks

Wine

See our section on the wine industry

Mandatory Code for Alcohol Sales

This work is led by the Home Office and Department for Health, with our active participation. The Home Office launched a public consultation (closing 5 August 2009)) on ‘Selling Alcohol Responsibly’ in support of the Government’s Alcohol Strategy. The consultation’s proposals are aimed at improving on-trade (pubs, clubs, etc) and off-trade (supermarkets, convenience stores, etc) practices in order to reduce alcohol-related harms; primarily public order concerns around binge-drinking, and health concerns about excessive personal consumption. Full details are available on the Home Office website.

Spirit Drinks Regulations

The Unit has policy responsibility for the EC Spirit Drinks Regulation 110/2008, which provides for the definition, presentation, labelling and protection of geographical indications (GIs) of spirit drinks at 15% alcohol and above.  This EC Regulation is implemented in the UK through the Spirit Drinks Regulations 2008, for which the Unit also has policy responsibility.

Scotch Whisky Regulations

At the industry’s request, the Unit is also introducing additional protection for Scotch Whisky, an industry worth over £4bn, and which represents 25% of all UK food and drink exports. The proposed (UK) Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 providing this extra protection, are expected to be in force by late 2009.

Page last modified: 21 July 2009
Page published: 21 July 2009

You may also be
interested in...