HMDS2120 - Scheme Description: Why was the scheme introduced?

The introduction of duty stamps on spirits is an important part of the UK Alcohol Strategy to tackle spirits fraud.

The duty stamps scheme will:

• Make it more difficult and, therefore, less profitable to sell illicit unstamped product through the retail network because it will be easily identified as illicit and liable to seizure
• Make outward diversion fraud less attractive because stamped product must not be removed from a warehouse for export
• Have the effect of driving fraud into inward diversion, which the Department will combat through increased frontier and assurance activity.