Policy paper

Scottish Deposit Return Scheme: UK internal market exclusion

The rationale behind the UK Government’s conditional agreement to the Scottish Government’s request for a UK internal market exclusion.

• From: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• Published: 27 May 2023

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

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Policy statement: Scottish Deposit Return Scheme - UK internal market exclusion

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The UK internal market creates a strong presumption of mutual recognition and non-discrimination across our shared market because the free flow of trade across the United Kingdom is vital to businesses and consumers.

The implementation of a deposit return scheme (DRS) in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government. However, to ensure it is operable the Scottish Government has requested an exclusion from the internal market’s market access principles.

The UK Government has considered the Scottish Government request for an exclusion from the UK Internal Market Act 2020 with respect to its impact on the UK internal market as a whole. This policy statement sets out the rationale behind this decision.

Published 27 May 2023