Wine importers hit by payment chaos in new EPR scheme

Wine importers are fuming over a massive cock-up with the UK's new Extended Producer Responsibility scheme—hundreds of businesses got charged multiple times on their first payments, with some hit three times over. Major players like Hallgarten & Novum Wines and The Wine Society were caught out, and whilst the big operators can absorb the hit, smaller importers could've ended up overdrawn. DEFRA's admitted 484 businesses were affected and is scrambling to fix it, but industry confidence in the system is already badly dented.