Wales: Welsh National Assembly approves Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) bill

Without waiting for the outcome of the impact evaluation of the Scottish MUP implementation, the Welsh Assembly Members (AMs) passed the Welsh government’s “Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill” by 45 votes to five, on 18 June 2018. The bill will introduce a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol beverages in Wales.

The government has previously stated that it plans to set a MUP of at least GBP £0.50, and a public consultation is expected on the exact level of the MUP, by the end of 2018. The legislation would be evaluated after five years. The bill does also contain a “sunset clause”, and MUP would automatically be removed after six years unless new regulations are introduced to extend it. Source: Comité Vins