Government prepares below-cost selling ban

The UK government is getting set to publish proposals on banning below-cost selling of alcohol within a matter of weeks, but the proposals are understood to rule out minimum pricing by the unit.

Former chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson had previously called for a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol, which would have increased the price of a bottle of wine to a minimum of £4.50 and a six-pack of beer to £6.

Donaldson and other health lobbyists had previously accused supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Morrison’s of encouraging a binge-drinking society by using items such as wine and beer as loss-leaders in order to attract customers through their doors.

The coalition government has identified four possible options for outlawing irresponsible alcohol retailing:

•    Ban stores selling alcohol at below the cost of duty and VAT
•    Add in a value for the cost of production, distribution and marketing
•    Ban sales below the cost of the wholesale invoice received by retailers
•    Suspend competition law that outlaws collusion between firms allowing retailers to decide a fair price.

The options will be presented to the government in a consultation document in the first week of August.

Meanwhile the British Medical Association (BMA) has claimed that banning alcohol advertising is as necessary as the introduction of minimum pricing to help reduce the spread of alcohol abuse.

Measures such as banning the reward of loyalty points for alcohol purchases were also suggested at the BMA’s annual conference in Brighton last week.

“Most alcohol bought for consumption is from supermarkets,” said Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of the BMA in Scotland.

“There is a need to send the right message on drinking behaviour by not allowing ‘rewards’ for buying alcohol.”

Alan Lodge, 05.06.2010