The Federation of Wholesale Distributors has called for the introduction of duty stamps on beer to combat duty fraud, provoking fierce resistance from brewers.
The FWD council voted unanimously to campaign for the government to make it illegal to sell beer without a duty stamp.
Legitimate wholesalers believe duty stamps would be as effective at reducing duty fraud in the beer market as they have in spirits.
Spirits duty fraud dropped from £450m to £350m a year after the stamps were introduced in 2006, according to HMRC.
"Given that HMRC's estimate of the cost of beer fraud is £700m, twice that of spirits fraud, the FWD is calling on the government to take immediate steps," said FWD CEO James Bielby. "It could drastically reduce fraud overnight although brewers won't be keen because it would cost them a lot of money."
The HMRC had been cracking down on the problem with a spate of raids but it was hard for them to identify duty-avoided stock, he added.
Brewers reacted with anger to the proposals, saying it would add unnecessary cost and dent sales in a market already suffering volume declines.
"Given the vast range of products and packaging types in the beer market, tax stamps on every can and bottle would be an excessive, expensive and totally disproportionate way to tackle duty fraud," said Brigid Simmonds, CEO of the British Beer & Pub Association. "Spirits and beer are just not comparable in these terms a single bottle of spirits equates to 20 cans of beer. Robust and targeted enforcement is starting to deliver results."
The FWD council voted unanimously to campaign for the government to make it illegal to sell beer without a duty stamp.
Legitimate wholesalers believe duty stamps would be as effective at reducing duty fraud in the beer market as they have in spirits.
Spirits duty fraud dropped from £450m to £350m a year after the stamps were introduced in 2006, according to HMRC.
"Given that HMRC's estimate of the cost of beer fraud is £700m, twice that of spirits fraud, the FWD is calling on the government to take immediate steps," said FWD CEO James Bielby. "It could drastically reduce fraud overnight although brewers won't be keen because it would cost them a lot of money."
The HMRC had been cracking down on the problem with a spate of raids but it was hard for them to identify duty-avoided stock, he added.
Brewers reacted with anger to the proposals, saying it would add unnecessary cost and dent sales in a market already suffering volume declines.
"Given the vast range of products and packaging types in the beer market, tax stamps on every can and bottle would be an excessive, expensive and totally disproportionate way to tackle duty fraud," said Brigid Simmonds, CEO of the British Beer & Pub Association. "Spirits and beer are just not comparable in these terms a single bottle of spirits equates to 20 cans of beer. Robust and targeted enforcement is starting to deliver results."
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