The Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) has called for a "level playing field" between pubs and supermarkets in its submission to the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee's consultation on the Alcohol Etc (Scotland) Bill.
"It is fundamentally flawed for pubs to have been banned from running promotions like 'buy one get one free' offers since September 1, 2009, but for supermarkets to be allowed to continue to do exactly that at a fraction of the prices that any pub could ever charge," said SBPA chief executive, Patrick Browne.
"That unlevel playing field makes a total mockery of the current Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and raises real questions about the commitment of politicians to tackle 'irresponsible promotions'."
In its response, the SBPA also questioned the need to introduce age verification policies in Scotland and highlighted the possible impact of bans on under-21-year-olds being able to buy alcohol from off-sales given that many pubs are licensed to make off-sales where the alcohol is then consumed in beer gardens.
Mr Browne added: "It would appear that many aspects of the Alcohol Bill will have unintended consequences for pubs that are licensed to make off-sales of alcohol. Hopefully the Scottish Parliament will remove those anomalies."
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