Posted 12/11/2015
APEC-WRF participants photographed in front of the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). TTB participated as part of a U.S. delegation.
During the week of November 9, 2015, TTB was part of the U.S. delegation that participated in the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Wine Regulatory Forum (APEC-WRF) meetings held in Adelaide, Australia. Other U.S. government agencies in attendance included Office of the United States Trade Representative, United States Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and State.
The WWTG (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Georgia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States) meeting covered a number of wine trade issues including a round table discussion on new wine trade developments that have taken place during the last six months, observer status at international organizations, a draft potential agreement on counterfeit products, and consideration of “good regulatory principles for wine production” as listed in the “Tbilisi Statement on Analytical Methodology and Regulatory Limits.”
The WRF meeting was the largest gathering to date in which government officials and industry representatives from 17 economies participated; these included Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam; Argentina, and South Africa participated as observers. The WRF seeks to eliminate non-science based testing and certification requirements in an effort to increase wine production, to expand trade, and to create jobs in the APEC region. To help achieve these goals, the WRF has created several working groups, all of which reported on their work to date.
The next WWTG meeting, an intersessional, is likely to take place in Brussels, Belgium, in the spring of 2016. The next annual WWTG meeting and WRF meetings are to take place in Ottawa, Canada, during the first week of October 2016.