Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support wine importers with additional administrative requirements following the ending of the temporary easement to the implementation of the new alcohol duty system in February 2025.

In August 2023 the Government introduced reforms to alcohol duty so that products are taxed in proportion to their alcoholic strength, not volume.

To help the wine industry adapt to the new duty system, the current, temporary duty easement was introduced as a transitional measure, which was intended to allow time for wine producers to adapt to calculating duty based on alcohol by volume.

By the planned end-date of 31 January 2025, the wine industry will have had over two years to adapt to the new strength-based system.