Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to protect the status of Scottish whisky as a premium product in exports to the US after the UK leaves the EU.

Scotch Whisky is one of the UK’s great export success stories with global exports worth £4bn in 2016.

In the USA, Scotch Whisky is already protected in US Federal Law which refers to Scotch Whisky as, “whisky which is a distinctive product of Scotland, manufactured in Scotland in compliance with the laws of the United Kingdom regulating the manufacture of scotch whisky for consumption in the United Kingdom”. There is no reason for this to change as a result of EU exit.

More generally, our International Action Plan for food and drink exports details how Government and industry will continue to work in partnership to promote UK food and drink overseas, break down trade barriers and open up new international markets.