The WWTG has enjoyed significant achievements to date. The Group continues to play an important role in influencing international wine trade arrangements, with a core driver for the creation of the WWTG being a mutual interest in facilitating international trade and avoiding the application of trade obstacles. The success of the WWTG has helped rejuvenate international thinking on international wine trade issues.
The major achievements of the World Wine Trade Group include:
WINE REGULATORY PRinciples
WWTG has always welcomed participation from countries that share its trade facilitating objectives, and has invited representatives from many countries to observe its activities over the years. It has also been active in seeking opportunities to extend the trade facilitating philosophies of the WWTG with other countries and in other fora. In 2006, it set down principles derived from the WWTG agreements that could be applied in other international contexts.
WWTG Sustainability initiative
Throughout the world, sustainable wine growing practices are helping to reduce water and energy use, minimize pesticide use, build healthy soil, protect air and water quality, recycle natural resources, maintain surrounding wildlife habitat, provide employee education, and communicate with neighbors about vineyard and winery operations. WWTG is working to develop common principles of sustainability that meet environmental, social and economic sustainability goals within each country or region.
APEC Initiative
The most important extension initiative has been the development of the APEC Wine Regulators Forum (WRF). The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the premier Pacific Rim economic forum made up of 21 nations, supports sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the region. Building on initial contacts made in 2003, WWTG has been the driving force behind the establishment of this Forum within the auspices of the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance.
Mutual Acceptance Agreement on Oenological Practices
Early discussions at the New World Wine Producers identified the possible threats to trade that arose from differing national rules on oenological practices. At the first Zurich meeting it was agreed that such differences should not be a basis for erecting technical barriers to trade. From this point it was agreed to develop a Mutual Acceptance Agreement on Oenological Practices (MAA). The text of the Agreement was first discussed in Santiago, Chile in October 1999 and was further refined at the subsequent meetings in Queenstown, New Zealand and Sonoma, United States of America.
Labeling Agreement and Protocol
Differing national requirements around the presentation and placement of information on wine labels was recognised by the WWTG as being another major source of unnecessary cost and impediment to the international trade in wine. The idea of a parallel agreement to address this issue was proposed in Chile in 1999, and progressed through a working group that presented its recommendations at the meeting in Sonoma, California in October 2001. The “Sonoma Principles”, as it came to be known, formed the basis for negotiations on a labeling agreement that commenced after the signing of the MAA.
Memorandum of Understanding on Certification
Noting that the MAA already provided that routine certification should not be required between parties for oenological practices, the Industry Section circulated a paper in 2006 proposing that a similar arrangement be considered for compositional aspects of wine that could not be defined as oenological practices. This proposal was taken up by the Regulators Forum and developed into Memorandum of Understanding on Certification Requirements (Certification MoU).
Improved Understanding of Global Wine Issues
Information sharing has been an important feature of WWTG meetings. Discussions within the Group have promoted a better understanding of the range of possible approaches to issues, and in some cases has led to the formulation of a consensus approach within the Group. Routine discussions concern issues such as: trends in wine production and sales; the state of bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade negotiations; the state of wine issues in the OIV, Codex Alimentarius and the WTO; viti- vinicultural practices; labeling and intellectual property issues, etc.; and sustainable production.
The January 2007 meeting included, for the first time, a Regulators Forum to provide regulatory bodies with an opportunity to discuss possible approaches to emerging regulatory issues. In 2011, a joint meeting was held between FIVS and WWTG on Sustainability, which identified important synergies between WWTG and non-WWTG industries around this topic. The WWTG also represented the global wine industry, in conjunction with CEEV, at the WTO consultation on its strategy for reduction of harmful use of alcohol beverages in 2008.
Joint Action at WTO, OIV, Codex
When consensus is reached on an issue this often engenders a co-coordinated approach to wine issues in other international fora - notably the World Trade Organisation, the OIV and the Codex Alimentarius. Frequently informal group caucuses are held before meetings of such groups to identify matters of mutual interest and to agree on a coordinated approach if this is possible. This co-ordination ensures that the voice of the group, and participant countries, is heard forcefully in international organisations, often as a counterweight to more trade restrictive views espoused by some other countries.
The WWTG has effectively provided a forum for members to develop input into two generations of EU wine reforms as well as numerous WTO notifications from various countries. It has provided a platform to coordinate industry and government approaches to particular regulatory issues in developing markets, such as winemaking additives in Japan and China.
Strategic Initiatives and Action Plans
During the Washington, DC based WWTG meetings held in July 2006, participants adopted the first industry section strategic plan, together with an integrated set of action plans to achieve the specified goals and objectives. These plans addressed topics pertinent to international wine trade, such as environmental stewardship, codes of advertising and emerging markets. The plan was renewed in 2010, and 2015, and now drives and focuses the discussions of the industry section, creating opportunities for further progress in achieving the objectives of the Group as a whole.