Alliance Against Counterfeit Spirits

The Alliance Against Counterfeit Spirits (AACS) is an anti-counterfeiting alliance that represents the world’s major international spirits producing companies. AACS has been in operation since 1993 with the single purpose of combating the counterfeiting of distilled spirits brands.

The actions of counterfeiters can pose a direct health risk to consumers, erode legitimate tax revenues and undermine consumer trust in well established brands. The AACS is active in more than 20 countries and works with the brands of some of the largest spirits businesses in the world.

Spirits are alcoholic drinks that include distilled alcohol, such as gin, liqueurs, vodka, rum, whisky, and brandy. They are high value products and therefore attractive to counterfeiters. Counterfeit products are sold by subterfuge by for example re-filling branded spirits bottles or adding dangerous ingredients which could cause problems like methanol poisoning.^[1]

The AACS was set up to combat the counterfeiting of spirits around the world, which is a big industry.^[2]

AACS partners own over two-thirds of the internationally-recognised spirits brands sold around the world. Partner companies produce around 300 million cases of spirits per year - around a third of the worldwide total.^[3] As of 2020, there were 9 AACS partners:

• Pernod Ricard
• Brown-Forman
• Diageo
• Bacardi
• William Grant & Sons
• Tito's Vodka
• Finlandia Vodka
• Rémy Cointreau
• Suntory Global Spirits

• European Spirits Organisation

• AACS