Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:19 pm on 24 May 2022.
Thank you, Minister. As you know, this Government is introducing a digital system in its deposit-return scheme that will be incompatible with the DRS schemes being introduced in England and Northern Ireland. This incompatibility will create barriers to trade, increase production costs and, in particular, reduce the choice and availability of beer here. Independent brewers in Wales produce around 19 million pints for the UK market, and increased costs for the new labelling requirements, as well as annual registration and producer fees, and the impact of return containers will likely consume all of their profit, which is typically less than 8 per cent per bottle. Change of production lines to generate country-specific items or stock keeping units is very costly, therefore, small brewers will most likely no longer be able to sell in both the Welsh and English markets, thus massively reducing their overall sales. The online take-back service is also likely to be unachievable for small producers, and this will pretty much end small, independent brewers being able to afford to sell here in Wales. First Minister, as you know, the beer market is exceptionally competitive, and independent brewers are already struggling to compete with large, international producers. What is this Government doing to ensure that there's a joined-up approach on a deposit-return scheme and that Welsh brewers will not be disadvantaged by the different DRS schemes? Thank you.