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India trade deal a ‘shot in the arm’ for whisky
A trade agreement between India and the UK post-Brexit would be a “shot in the arm” for Scottish distilleries, Leave campaigner and Edinburgh-born MP Michael Gove has said.
Conservative MP and Leave campaigner, Michael Gove
In an interview with Aberdeen newspaper the Evening Express, Gove acknowledged that times have been tough for the oil and gas industry, but was adamant Brexit would be good for the region’s distilleries.
“At the moment there are significant problems in exporting whisky to India, so in terms of trade deals it could be immensely exciting for the whisky world,” he said.
“A trade deal on whisky with India could be a huge shot in the arm for our distilleries in the north east.”
Aberdeen chose to ‘remain’ in the UK’s EU referendum on 23 June with 61.1% of the votes.
According to the Scotch Whisky Association, India is the fast-growing export market for Scotch, with volumes climbing 41% to 41 million bottles in the first half of 2016. Value sales soared 28% to £43 million (about US$53.5m) over the same period.
However despite the fast growth, Scotch only accounts for 1% of the total spirits market in India.
Last month, Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes said the impact of Brexit on the Scotch industry would be “neutral to positive” depending on the free-trade agreement secured by UK prime minister Theresa May and her team.
Menezes also called for India to be a high priority market for the UK when negotiating free trade agreements due to the 150% import tariffs currently levied against spirits.