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CANADA MAKES INROADS IN EUROPE FOR WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRY September 16, 2003 (11:05 a.m. EDT) No. 136 This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Internet
site An agreement announced today between the Government of Canada
and the European Union (EU) on wines and spirits is expected to maintain stability
in Canada's domestic marketing and distribution practices and significantly open
the European market to Canadian products. The agreement was signed by International Trade Minister
Pierre Pettigrew, Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lyle Vanclief,
EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler and Italian Minister for Foreign
Trade Adolfo Urso during a ceremony held today at Inniskillin Wines in the
Niagara Peninsula. "This agreement strengthens Canada-EU relations by eliminating
previous irritants in the wine and spirits sectors," said Minister Pettigrew.
"In addition to resolving grievances, the agreement solidifies Canadian access
to the EU marketplace." "This is a win for Canada, it's a win for Europe, and most
of all, it's a win for wine and spirits producers and consumers in both of our
regions who can now look forward to more trade opportunities and a greater variety
of choice than in the past," said Minister Vanclief. The agreement also offers a simplified certification
process for the export of Canadian wine and protection for Canadian wine
and spirit geographical indications, such as Okanagan Valley, Niagara Peninsula
and Canadian rye whisky. Europe will similarly benefit from greater protection
for their geographical indications in Canada. The agreement also contains
enhanced transparency provisions in the liquor distribution systems in Canada,
an important benefit for the EU. Negotiations began in November 2001 and were concluded
in April 2003. Both ministers acknowledged that the provinces and industry
played a major part in the negotiation of the agreement and will continue
to play a significant role in its implementation, which will likely come into
force in early 2004. - 30 - A backgrounder is attached. For further information, media representatives may contact:
Sébastien Théberge Donald Boulanger Backgrounder CANADA-EU WINE AND SPIRITS AGREEMENT This new agreement updates the existing bilateral trade agreement
on wines and spirits --in place since 1989--and provides the wine and spirits
sector with more certain trade rules in the domestic marketplace and a framework
for managing any future grievances in a more cooperative manner. For Canada, the main benefit is the maintenance of favourable domestic
measures that allow wineries in B.C. and Ontario to operate private wine
store outlets that sell only wine produced in Canada. Furthermore, the agreement will
allow Québec to maintain its requirement that wine sold in grocery stores be
bottled in that province. Finally, other Canadian benefits are related to
facilitating access to the EU market for Canadian exports, and in particular,
for Canada's flagship products of Canadian whisky and icewine. For the EU, benefits include the phase-out removal of generic names of wine and
spirits from the list of generic names in the Trade-marks Act. Furthermore, the
agreement provides increased transparency in Canadian liquor board practices
through the use of independent audits. Finally, the agreement outlines the role
that provincial authorities will play in ensuring that geographical indications
are labelled appropriately. Canada and the EU have been negotiating a bilateral agreement on trade in wine
and spirits since November 2001. In July, both parties approved the agreement.
The agreement will likely come into force within six months of being signed,
once the required regulatory changes have been made to ensure that both parties
meet the obligations of the agreement, and both have given notification to this
effect.
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