David Thomson (South Ayrshire Council), Ann Scott (North Lanarkshire Council) accepting awards from Fraser Morrison of the Edrington Group
South Ayrshire Council has been recognised by the drinks industry for its educational and enforcement work in preventing cheaper and counterfeit products being passed onto customers as more expensive brands.
South Ayrshire Council was one of three Scottish Councils to fight off strong competition from other local authorities throughout the United Kingdom to win a Gold Award and vouchers for training from the International Federation of Spirit Producers (IFSP).
The award recognises their effort made to ensure that spirits on sale are genuine not substitutes. Spirit substitution is the refilling of premium branded spirit bottles with cheaper alternatives for resale in on-licensed premises, pubs, restaurants, hotels, clubs etc. The alternative spirits used can be cheaper own-label spirits purchased from a supermarket or cash and carry, bootlegged brands or illicit spirits.
Councillor Peter Convery, responsible for Trading Standards issues for South Ayrshire Council said: "This award recognises that our Council is committed to maintaining our reputation as being one of the best tourist destinations in Scotland. Local residents, tourists and visitors alike can enjoy visiting places all over South Ayrshire with the confidence that the goods and services they pay for are legal and genuine."
The Council has adopted new methods in detecting substituted sprits that involves the use of the IFSP brand authenticator device, which simplifies the detection of substitution on the premises and reduces the need for submitting samples to the public analyst. However, with more emphasis by the Council on training and education, for the first time the targeted sampling programme this year showed that all the samples were genuine.
Philip Scatchard IFSP UK Director said: "South Ayrshire has done a tremendous job to ensure that customers are served what they ask and pay for. Serving an alternative spirit is illegal and, in a small number of cases where counterfeits are concerned, potentially dangerous. We are determined to ensure that licensees do not gain an unfair competitive advantage by ripping off their customers. We will continue to be extremely active to support trading standards and environmental health to weed out the small but significant minority of licensees that persist in refilling bottles with cheaper alternatives."
The awards were presented at the annual Trading Standards Conference in Edinburgh by Fraser Morrison of the Edrington Group which owns the Macallan and Famous Grouse brands. He said: "We put a lot of effort into producing the best quality products and it is imperative that the customers are served what they ask for and are not fobbed off with a cheap alternative."
Councillor Peter Convery added: "Our trading standards service works tirelessly for those living, working and visiting South Ayrshire and this award confirms that we are genuinely making a difference.
If anyone has suspicions about the quality of drinks being served they should contact the Council in confidence Monday to Friday on 01292 616403 or by visiting the Trading Standards Advice Centre at 5-7 River Terrace, Ayr or the website at www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards.