Irish whiskey industry welcomes reductions in Canadian spirits levies in line with CETA deal

Calls for Ireland to ratify CETA agreement

Print

Print

Off-trade

Drinks Ireland|Irish Whiskey, the representative body for the Irish whiskey industry, has welcomed the news that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario will reduce its levies on EU and UK spirits by 42%, while another Canadian province – Québec – is due to reduce levies on imported spirits by 16.4% from 23 May.

“These latest reductions come on foot of audits carried out at the request of the EU under the terms of the CETA agreement, and will open up new opportunities for Irish whiskey brands,”  said William Lavelle, head of Drinks Ireland|Irish Whiskey.

The group has now called on members of Dáil Éireann to vote in favour of Ireland’s ratification of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

While the CETA deal has been in ‘provisional effect’ since 2017, it still requires ratification by all EU members states and Ireland has been one of the states not to have yet approved it. It is expected that Ireland’s ratification of the agreement will be voted upon by the Dáil in the coming weeks.

Calling on TDs to back the CETA deal, William Lavelle said: “Since the CETA deal came into provisional force, sales of Irish whiskey in Canada have increased a massive 44%, to 3.5 million bottles in 2019. A major contributor to this growth has been the reform of levies, known as the cost-of-service-differential, which are imposed by provincial liquor retail monopolies in Ontario and Quebec, the two most populous provinces in Canada.”

The cost-of-service-differentials in Ontario and Quebec were initially changed from an ad-valorum (per value) basis to a flat charge in 2018. This particularly benefitted premium-priced Irish whiskey.

“These reductions have been very welcome in that they have allowed Irish whiskey, particularly premium Irish whiskey products, to be priced more competitively while also delivering more scope to Irish whiskey exporters to invest in enhanced promotion in Canada,” Lavelle added.

“There remains a number of outstanding discriminatory levies and mark-ups in place across Canadian provinces, but the CETA agreement offers the best path to address these outstanding matters and that’s why we need Ireland to finally ratify the agreement.”

Related Articles

The Busker debuts small batch Single Pot Still Whiskey →

Slainté: Tradition in a bottle! →

Pour Yourself a Glass of New Zealand →

Outcast Brands sharpens focus on export expansion →