JAPAN

Scotch Distillers Battle Taxes: Frustrated by years of waiting, Britain’s Scotch whiskey makers have stepped up their campaign against Japan’s liquor taxes, saying the discriminatory system must be scrapped soon. The issue could be brought before the World Trade Organization if the Japanese government does not comply with its trade obligations, said Hugh Morison, director general of the Scotch Whiskey Assn. A panel of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the WTO’s predecessor, found in 1987 that Japan’s liquor tax system contravened organization rules. Morison said Japan taxes Scotch whiskey four to seven times more than it does locally distilled liquor .