What steps it is taking to ensure that the whisky industry is not faced with any additional costs arising from the water framework directiv…

The Scottish Executive has stated that the regulatory regimes introduced under the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 will be selective, proportionate and streamlined and SEPA will be required to recover the costs incurred by its new duties by means of charging schemes. Safeguards have been built into the Water Framework Directive and the Water Environment and Water Services Scotland (Act) 2003 to ensure that economic and social issues are taken into account alongside environmental factors in the river basin management planning process. Section 2(4)(a) of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 requires Scottish ministers, SEPA, and responsible authorities to exercise their functions with regard to the social and economic impact of that exercise.The new regulatory regimes will be subject to full consultation and will be accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment. Representatives from the whisky industry will have the opportunity to take part in that consultation. Furthermore, the industry will continue to have opportunities to influence a wide range of Water Framework Directive implementation issues through the Water Framework Directive National Stakeholder Forum, on which whisky industry representatives will sit.The Scottish Executive has consulted widely on issues relating to implementing the water framework directive on a number of occasions. The whisky industry has responded to all consultations and representatives of the Malt Distillers Association and the Scotch Whisky Association attended a national Water Framework Directive conference in March. All responses to consultation, and future consultation are published on the Executive website, unless recipients request that their contribution is treated in confidence.