News

Dr Craig Emerson released his interim report into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct on Monday 8th April.  The Review acknowledged there are market concentration issues in other retail industries in Australia, and that common issues can occur across industries, especially for perishable products. The Review acknowledged there are questions about whether the wine …

Damien Griffante, Director of Strategy & International Affairs for Australian Grape & Wine, is currently representing the Australian wine sector at the OIV – International Organisation of Vine and Wine technical meeting in Dijon, France. His presence underscores Australian Grape & Wine’s commitment to advocating for the reduction of trade and technical barriers facing Australian …

Today, on International Women’s Day, and in line with the 2023 Australian Women in Wine Symposium’s call to ACTION, Australian Grape & Wine celebrates the sector’s ACTION on gender equality with a positive step towards real change. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s recent report on gender pay gaps in Australia has sparked a wave of action within …

On 28 February the Government tabled a package of Bills in the House, intended to raise $50 million from producers as part of the revised biosecurity protection levy. Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024 Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Charges Bill 2024 Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies and Charges Collection Bill 2024 While the Charges Bill helpfully has …

The Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices has announced an initial set of dates to hear from industry participants who supply the supermarkets, either directly or indirectly. Hearings have been held in Hobart (7th March), Orange (12th March) and Melbourne (13th March) with further dates to be announced at the discretion of the Committee. Growers …

Codex Committee on Food Labelling As reported in previous member news Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) is preparing a paper for their next meeting (CCFL48) on alcohol labelling being led by the World Health Organization (WHO). A Circular Letter (CL) drafted by WHO CL 2024/13-FL was sent to Codex member countries for comment to …

Thai health warning labels Last month new draft requirements were released for domestic consultation by Thailand’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABCB) as a draft amendment to Section 26(1) of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act. The draft announcement covers a wide range of requirements including graphic health warnings, restrictions on text that is displayed on the …

The United States (US) consultation on nutrition, allergen and ingredient labelling: As noted in last month’s update the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) notified the World Trade Organization (G/TBT/N/USA/2095) of a consultation on potential changes to “Labelling and Advertising of Wine, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages With Alcohol Content, Nutritional Information, …

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has announced Round 2 of the Energy Efficiency Grants for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises closing 8th April 2024. The grants will support businesses to upgrade or replace inefficient equipment. The grant objectives are to increase the uptake of energy efficient technologies enabling industries to …

Australian Grape & Wine has received concerns regarding gall-like symptoms being observed in a number of vineyards across Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria. Preliminary analysis conducted by laboratories in NSW and Victoria has suggested the presence of a causal agent that is a different variant to the previous Agrobacterium associated with crown-gall in Australian vineyards. …