Wine Reforms Continue
The second phase of the wine reforms, The Wine (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024 (legislation.gov.uk) /115 come into force on 15 July 2024. It will update the list of approved oenological practices and introduce a definition for ‘ice wine’.
The overall process of wholesale reform to the wine sector was first consulted on over a year ago; please see Major Defra Consultation on GB Wine Sector - Mills & Reeve (mills-reeve.com).
The first two phases of the assimilated EU law (AEUL) wine reforms have now been undertaken:
- ‘The Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)’ (No 1362)’, introduced simplified labelling rules for the wine trade which came into effect on 1 January 2024.
Packaging requirements for sparkling wine were liberalised (ie mandatory use of mushroom-shaped stopper and foil sheaths on sparkling wine was removed, removing rules on bottle shapes,) to reduce costs and support recycling ;
the removal of restrictions on hybrid grape varieties (ie option to apply to protected designations of origin and geographical indications) was intended to give industry the freedom to innovate.
Defra also updated its guidance on labelling laws for wine imports into England from 1 Jan 2024; removing the requirement for imported wines to have the word ‘imported or ‘importer’ listed on the label. ie only the Food Business Operator (FBO) responsible for ensuring all legal requirements are met, was needed to be identified on packaging, as is already the standard requirement for all food products. Importing, selling and labelling wine - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Importers providing their name and address on wine labels will not be required to mention the words ‘importer’ or ‘imported by’.
Elsewhere, rules on bottle shapes were also scrapped.
- ‘The Wine (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024 (No 115)’, updates the list of approved oenological practices and introduce a definition for ‘ice wine’ and will come into effect 15 July 2024.
- The consultation for the third reform, draft The Wine Amendment England No.2 Regulations 2024.doc (live.com), ended on 10 May 2024 Wine Reforms Consultation 2024.pdf (defra.gov.uk) and considered:
- The carbonisation of imported bulk wine
- Sweetening and other adaption of imported wine
- Producing wine from imported grapes
- Amendments to the labelling of ‘British Wine”
- Changes to no and low alcohol wine and amendments to the minimum alcohol contentment of wine
Please also see Food and Agri Update - 7 May - Mills & Reeve (mills-reeve.com) This third reform will bring wide reaching changes to the sector and it will be awaited whether the new Governments' move towards growth or towards Europe will win out in enacting them.