Treatment of fortified wine in the new alcohol duty system

That this House notes the disproportionately harsh treatment of fortified wine businesses as a result of the new alcohol duty system and the recently-announced alcohol excise duty rate increases, due to come into force on 1 August 2023; further notes the lack of any transitional easement mechanism for fortified wines made from fresh grapes, and the exclusion of fortified wine products from the temporary transitional easement for wines between 11.5-14.5 per cent alcohol by volume; calls on the Government to extend the top end of the current easement for wine to 15 per cent to bring it in line with existing legal definitions and reduce red tape; further calls on the Government to create a transitional easement for fortified wine products made from fresh grapes which have a protected designation of origin; recommends that such an easement operate similarly to the existing easement for wines of fresh grapes, using an alcohol by volume range of 15.5-20 per cent and a fixed midpoint of 17.5 per cent alcohol by volume at which all wines in this range are taxed; and notes that the UK’s fortified wine import market is one of the most competitive globally, and that inevitable price increases will stifle consumer demand without appropriate mitigations for fortified wine companies.