These Regulations, which come into force on 1st January 2001, introduce a system of relief from liability to excise duty on beer and cider when certain larger containers (such as casks and kegs) are overfilled. These containers are usually slightly overfilled to ensure that they contain at least the nominal (or labelled) volume.

The Regulations amend the Beer Regulations 1993 (S.I. 1993/1228) and the Cider and Perry Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/1355). The amount of excise duty payable will be determined by reference to the nominal (or labelled) volume of the container because if the container contains more than this quantity, relief from excise duty is afforded on the excess. However the Regulations also lay down tolerances and if the excess quantity in a container exceeds these tolerances then no relief is afforded so that duty is payable on the actual volume of beer or cider in the container. These tolerances vary depending upon the size of the container and the method by which the container is filled. The tolerances are greater for the less sophisticated filling methods.