SCOTTISH WHOLESALE ASSOCIATION COMMENT ON DRS CHANGES

Colin Smith, chief executive of the Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA), said: “One of our aims, and we have been pushing for this since 2019, has been to have a de-minimis approach to ensure wholesalers putting small volumes of a product onto the market aren’t hit hard by DRS and to protect the consumer choice in hospitality and speciality retail, where such products are primarily sold.

“We were extremely pleased that our ongoing engagement with the Circular Economy Minister resulted in her announcement today of a de-minimis for all products below 5,000 unit sales.

“While we await the full detail of the de-minimis, I personally thanked the First Minister and Lorna Slater in a face-to-face meeting they held with industry late this afternoon.