BACKGROUND TO THE PROPOSAL
18. The Department explains that section 26 of the
1889 Act, which it now proposes to repeal, was intended to apply
to licensed retailers of methylated spirits, at a time when the
Government generated revenue from the issue of retail excise licences.[7]
Until the 1960s retailers were obliged to obtain a retail excise
licence to allow them to trade in methylated spirits. This provision
of the law formed part of the enforcement mechanism for such licences.
Since the abolition of retail excise licences the only function
of this provision has been to support the social law on Sunday
trading.
19. The Department considers that since the introduction
of the Sunday Trading Act 1994, which reformed the social law
relating to Sunday trading, the prohibition on the sale of methylated
spirits on Sundays is anomalous, burdensome and obsolete. It states
that some traders feel obliged to comply with the restriction,
while others are ignorant of it or knowingly disregard it without
fear of prosecution. This is claimed to put the former group at
a competitive disadvantage. The Department cites evidence from
a previous consultation performed by HM Customs and Excise in
October 2000 in support of its view that there is broad agreement
among retailers and pharmaceutical professionals for repeal.
20. In 1998 our predecessors on the Deregulation
Committee considered a proposal for a deregulation order relating
to the retail sale of methylated spirits in Scotland.[8]
The purpose of that proposal was to remove certain requirements
in the Methylated Spirits (Sale by Retail) (Scotland) Act 1937,
which required all retailers of methylated and surgical spirits
in Scotland to register with the local authority, record all sales
of such spirits and label all bottles with the name and premises
of the retailer and the type of spirit in the container. The points
at issue in that proposal were ones relating to the protection
of the public. It is not argued that any similar considerations
apply to the present proposal.
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