Combatting Fake, Counterfeit, and Contraband Alcohol Challenges in the United Kingdom through the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS)

The Center for Alcohol Policy released a new report, “Combatting Fake, Counterfeit, and Contraband Alcohol Challenges in the United Kingdom through the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS),” authored by Robert Tobiassen, the former Chief Counsel at the Treasury Department’s Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau.

The report summarizes the processes and considerations for the adoption and implementation of the AWRS in the U.K. and examines the critical importance of a domestic distribution system as sound regulatory policy. Tobiassen explains the U.K.’s annual loss of approximately £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) in excise duty as largely due to a “weaknesses in the distribution system,” now addressed by the AWRS. “The public evolution and formal adoption of the AWRS shows the importance of regulatory controls over the wholesale activity in the effort to combat fake, counterfeit, contraband and illicit alcohol,” concludes Tobiassen. Read more…