THE Irish drinks industry is preparing to go to court in an attempt to block Alex Salmond's plans to tackle Scotland's drink problem.
The Irish Spirits Association has taken legal advice, seeking to stop the Scottish Government imposing a minimum price on booze.
The ISA believes the plan violates EU law and is looking at challenging the legislation in the European Court of Justi
ce in Luxembourg.
The fear is that Salmond's plans will result in sales of Irish whiskey and other spirits plummeting in the UK.
Yesterday Aoife Clarke, a senior executive with the ISA, said: "
We have a product we can sell on the UK market at an attractive price but with this minimum pricing we will lose the ability to sell. We have lawyers looking at this and looking at how we can try and prevent this happening in Scotland."
The ISA has also been advised by the Scotch Whisky Association, which claims that European Court of Justice cases going back 30 years have demonstrated that minimum alcohol retail prices violate EU law.
In 1978, the Court of Justice ruled that minimum retail prices for spirits were illegal, because they would prevent imported products from having the chance to compete with domestic products on the basis that they cost less.
The UK market is the fourth biggest in the world for Irish whiskey. The US is the biggest, commanding 21% of Irish whiskey exports. The Irish domestic market is the next largest at 14.2%, followed by France and the UK with 9.5%. each.
The ISA has calculated that the liqueur Irish Meadow Cream would rise from £3.47 to £4.06 a bottle – a 17% increase, while Boru Vodka would suffer a 14% hike, rising from £9.19 to £10.50.
Jamie Fortescue, director general of the European Spirits Organisation, said: "
We certainly have concerns over the legality of what we've heard so far. Minimum pricing does not exist anywhere else in the EU. Foreign spirits could lose their competitive advantage, because there will be a trade barrier.
"If a country like Scotland, which produces one of the most famous spirits in the world, is seen to be creating trade barriers – that could have a retaliatory effect."
David Williamson of the Scotch Whisky Association said: "Our concern is that (a trade barrier] would encourage discriminatory treatment of Scotch whisky overseas."
