THE WINE MERCHANT. An independent magazine for independent retailers
Issue 84, September 2019
Dog of the Month: Elmo Aitken Wines, Dundee
Catford cocktail king
Xhulio Sina’s mixing things up in south London see page 26
Trade counts the cost of no deal Introduction of VI-1 paperwork is likely to create delays at ports and put more burdens on importers
W
ith the prospect of a no-deal Brexit looking increasingly likely, independent wine
merchants are braced for disruption – and potentially increased costs – during their busiest trading period after October 31.
The government has pledged a 12-month
suspension of World Trade Organisation tariffs on wine in the event of no deal.
These tariffs could eventually add up to
The Wine & Spirit Trade Association
7p-10p on a bottle of still wine and 21p on
estimates this will add £330 costs for each
reassurance on the introduction of VI-1
VI-1 requirements would be detrimental
a bottle of sparkling.
But Whitehall has given no such
forms – the paperwork accompanying
wines imported into the EU, which include mandatory laboratory analysis of each wine.
of the estimated 500,000 wines arriving in the UK from within the EU. “Introducing for all businesses importing wine from the EU, especially those which import
Continues page four