- Pint-sized wine bottles approved
- No change to imperial regulations
- Imperial and metric coexistence
The government has announced that pint-sized bottles of still and effervescent wine will soon be available in the United Kingdom.
Customers will have a greater selection with the new 568ml size, according to the Department of Business and Trade.
Additionally, it declared that it will not implement any additional regulations regarding the sale of products in imperial units.
With the introduction of legislation in the new year, pint-sized bottles will be available for purchase in supermarkets, bars, clubs, and restaurants.
Ministers considered amending EU-inherited regulations that restrict the use of the traditional British weighing system to the metric system by traders following Brexit.
The new law allows the selling of still wine in 200ml containers, which may boost the tinned wine sector.
Although 500ml bottles of effervescent wines will be sold, the sizes allowed will range from half (375ml) to full (750ml).
At this time, both 200ml and 500ml quantities of wine and effervescent wine are not available for purchase.
However, the demand among producers and bottlers for pint-sized wine vessels remains to be seen.
Imperial Measures Post-Brexit
Sir Winston Churchill, the British wartime leader, reportedly preferred pint-sized champagne bottles. These remained on store shelves until 1973 when the United Kingdom entered the European Common Market.
The government has confirmed that it will not change imperial measure sales laws after Brexit.
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Ministers considered amending EU-inherited regulations. These regulations restrict the use of the traditional British weighing system to merchants in conjunction with the metric system.
Due to EU regulations, imperial units (e.g., pounds and ounces) could only be displayed alongside metric units, and they could not have been more conspicuous.
They gained significant media attention in 2001 subsequent to the prosecution of the “metric martyrs,” a collective of market traders found guilty of exclusively selling products in imperial units; however, subsequent enforcement did not adhere to them rigorously.
Boris Johnson’s administration subsequently declared that the regulations would be reassessed. This is in an effort to “capitalise on the benefits of Brexit” and were initially replicated post-Brexit.
Prior to the 2019 election, the then-prime minister touted imperial measurements as an “ancient liberty” and stated that he saw “no reason why people should be prosecuted” for employing them. He also pledged to change the regulations.
In contrast, the government has now declared that it will not alter the regulations, despite the fact that 98.7% of consultation respondents supported using the metric as the primary or only unit of measurement for sales, as it is at present.
