The Government announced today that it will be consulting on duty stamps and supply chain legislation to tackle duty fraud.
However, the BBPA believes that duty fraud is nowhere near the scale suggested by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), and the tax stamps are a “completely disproportionate response”. The HMRC’s mid-point estimate of duty fraud is £500m, but the BBPA believes it is closer to between £100m and £200m.
BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds added that HMRC needs to “get tough” against fraudsters by exploring additional enforcement measures.
She said: “This would be hugely costly to brewers, and is totally at odds with the Government’s objectives of reducing regulatory burdens on business. Stamping 5.5bn bottles and cans of British beer each year, with no such controls on bottles of wine, would also be hugely unfair.
“HMRC already has powers available to tackle fraud, and we are working closely with them. Brewers have put a lot of effort into providing detailed data on beer movements, and invested in due diligence procedures to reduce the risk of fraud. It is this, along with robust and targeted enforcement that will deliver results.
“HMRC should also make better use of EMCS data, an EU-wide system where any movements of duty-suspended beer are recorded on a central database. This system has resulted in significant costs for brewers, so it should be fully used. They should also get tough against criminals and fraudsters, by exploring additional enforcement measures, such as looking at having separate lanes at ports, and seizing vehicles found to be carrying contraband.
“Spirits and beer cannot be treated the same – in terms of duty, a single bottle of spirits equates to 20 cans of beer, which comes in a vast range of products and package types.”