The consultation on ‘Dram Diplomas’ launched last month by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which is designed to protect the iconic drink from inferior competitors, ends on 7 December and the department is urging relevant bodies to reply before the closing date.
Already protected under EU legislation as a product of Geographic Indication (GI) Scotch must go through the five specified production processes of fermentation, distillation, maturation, blending and bottling/labelling to qualify as the “real thing”.
To qualify for a dram diploma, any distillery producing Scotch whisky must be located in Scotland and each must be involved in at least the fermentation and distillation processes. The companies involved in the maturation process must also be in Scotland; but blending, bottling and labelling may take place anywhere in the world.
Apart from being inextricably linked with the UK as a national tipple, the Scotch whisky industry has sales of around £7bn a year, with exports of £4.3bn and contributes over £1bn to the Exchequer.
GI verification of spirits is a new initiative for HMRC, arising from EU legislation, which covers products from abroad, such as champagne and Parma ham.
At the moment the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) holds the policy for GI in the UK and has been closely involved in the development of the verification scheme, as has the Scotch Whisky Association, which is the principal representative body for the industry.
HMRC will verify distilleries over a two-year period with visits to all 105 Scotch whisky distilleries, along with visits to other operators in involved in the industry, to make sure that their production processes comply and verifying individual brands. These will then be assured every two years after the initial verification.