New storage rules benefitting brewers

Customs Minister Tim Macindoe has today seen first-hand the positive impact new offsite storage regulations are having on small to medium sized breweries.

Before February 2017, only wine makers could move stock to offsite facilities and delay the point at which they paid excise duty. All other alcohol producers paid duty as their product left the site of manufacture, regardless of whether it was to be stored before going to market.

“It was clear the situation was placing undue limitations on how beer and spirit producers, who often have seasonal peaks or product that needs to undertake an aging process, ran their operations – so levelling the playing field and making it easier to do business was the logical response,” says Mr Macindoe.

Since offsite storage provisions were extended to all alcohol goods in February, six offsite storage applications have been approved by Customs and one further application is pending.

“I visited one of the approved applicants, Waikanae’s North End Brewing Co, this morning to see the impact the regulation change is already having on their business.

“It’s clear North End, which is storing thousands of litres of craft beer in an offsite storage facility, now has greater flexibility in relation to how much it brews and when, and importantly has more control over its cash flow – which is always important for a small business that’s trying to grow.

“I’m also aware of a Wellington brewer who’s storing more than 100,000 litres of its beer across two storage sites, so it’s clear to me the recent changes to offsite storage are working as intended,” Mr Macindoe says.

More information on changes to off-site storage provisions is available here.

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