Humza Yousaf has confirmed smaller drinks producers will temporarily be exempt from the controversial deposit return scheme if he wins the race to become first minister.
The frontrunner to succeed Nicola Sturgeon still backs the under-fire recycling initiative, but said the priority should be targeting major corporations who harm the environment.
The future of the scheme – which is due to go live in August – is already faced with uncertainty after Mr Yousaf’s SNP leadership rival Kate Forbes warned it should be paused.
Business chiefs in Tayside warned the announcement of a possible one-year delay might be “too late” for some producers already moving out of Scotland.
Mr Yousaf told The Courier he would be keen to meet with them if he wins the contest to become first minister.
When the deposit scheme comes into force, consumers will have to pay an extra 20p when they buy drinks in single-use containers.
They then earn their money back by taking their empty can, glass or bottle to vending machines placed around the country.
But smaller companies have repeatedly claimed the new law will hurt them by increasing costs when they are already being financially squeezed.
SNP rebel Fergus Ewing sensationally warned Nicola Sturgeon the scheme could descend into a “catastrophe” during an extraordinary Holyrood intervention.
He said: “Unless halted now, this scheme – which most businesses believe to be fatally flawed – will damage the reputation of Scotland as a place to do business.”
‘Listened to business’
Asked whether more could have been done to reassure firms, Mr Yousaf told us: “It’s fair to say, with hindsight, there’s absolutely more we could always look to do to reassure smaller businesses who have been telling us about these challenges for a number of weeks now.”
He added: “I’ll make sure I directly meet with them so I can deal with them and engage with them directly, because I think that’s the best way to hear about their concerns.”
Earlier he said the policy remained an “important scheme”, but said he had “listened to business” about their concerns.
The health secretary said: “If I’m elected first minister then I will exclude small businesses for the first year of operation of that scheme.
“Because it’s not the craft breweries, or craft gin makers, that are the ones causing the issues. It’s the big producers that are the ones that we should be targeting.”
Fiona Walsh, who founded Toll House Spirits in Arbroath, said: “We have been asking for quite some time now for an exclusion for small craft producers.
“The Scottish Government should have listened months ago when the alarm bells were being set off around them. Instead they decided to bury their heads in the sand and plough on regardless.
“This scheme has never been designed to work for small producers and it makes sense to exclude us until such time they can show it can work.
“Sadly, it may be too late for some producers who have already taken the decision to close the doors.”
A Fife wine shop owner previously warned he fears it will be illegal for him to sell his own stock once the policy comes into effect.
Whisky consultant Blair Bowman, who has led opposition to the environmental project, said a pause would not fix the scheme’s “fundamental flaws”.
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, who has been overseeing the initiative, insisted it would still go ahead. But she admitted she was “actively considering” a one-year reprieve for small companies.
Earlier this week Holyrood announced a new £22 million package to help firms struggling with admin costs and registration fees incurred from the scheme.
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