A SWA spokeswoman said: “The opposition of five European wine-producing nations to minimum unit pricing (MUP) of alcohol reported today, along with the European Commission’s concerns, fully support the view we have consistently expressed that the policy would be illegal, ineffective and set a dangerous precedent which would impact our trading with overseas nations. It would damage overseas producers which rely on importing to Scotland and the UK. The Scottish Court of Session failed to give any consideration to the effect of MUP on producers in other European Union Member States.
“We will continue to oppose MUP through the courts. The Scottish Government should concentrate on legal measures targeting the parts of the population drinking at hazardous and harmful levels. Measures already introduced seem to be working as alcohol-related deaths and harms are falling in Scotland,” she said.
