SRC director Fiona Moriarty said: 'Today's partnership agreement is a further demonstration of the retail sector's commitment to responsibly trading alcohol.
'There are a number of cultural issues surrounding alcohol abuse which need to be addressed and we are proud to be at the forefront of the debate and to work in association with the Executive and manufacturers to tackle this problem.
'The retail sector takes the issue of alcohol abuse very seriously. It has already put in place a number of measures, like the Challenge 21 initiative [anyone who looks under the age of 21 is asked for identification], designed to reduce the negative social impact of alcohol misuse.'
The Scottish Executive has unveiled the roll-out of Alcohol Test Purchasing, which involves using teenagers to identify licensees selling alcohol to minors. It aims to provide a strong indication of how effective the retail industry is at identifying minors and denying them alcohol.
Moriarty said: '[Alcohol Test Purchasing] has already proven to be workable during trials in Fife and we look forward to working with ACPOS [Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland] and the Scottish Executive to ensure a consistent and fair approach to test purchasing as it is rolled out across Scotland'.
Earlier this week, three UK Tesco stores had their drinks licences suspended for a month, after selling alcohol to children. The supermarkets were caught selling alcopops to 15-year-olds in an undercover police investigation.
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