News

The Current Situation The Australian Government provides a daily update on its website of the latest developments of COVID-19.  Across the world, there have been more than 117,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 4,200 reported deaths. As of 11 March 2020, there were 112 confirmed cases of  COVID-19 (coronavirus), including 3 deaths in Australia. The …

The current situation As of 9 March 2020, a total of 45 countries informed the World Health Organisation (WHO) of additional health measures they have implemented in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19), and provided the public health rationale for these measures. Measures that restrict the movement of people during this outbreak should be proportionate to the …

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has proposed Federal, State and Territory Governments adopt a mandatory pregnancy warning label that will impose significant costs on your business for little to no public health benefit. Many in the sector see this proposal as the first step towards a future defined by anti-alcohol labelling.      The …

The ABAC Responsible Alcohol Marketing Code sets standards for responsible alcohol marketing in Australia and regularly measures its determinations externally to ensure it is in line with community expectations. The Code regulates both the content and placement of alcohol marketing across all advertising mediums. ABAC have released it’s pre-vetting service guide.  Alcohol marketers or their agencies …

As the death toll continues to rise and the number of reported cases rises around the world, it is clear that the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has the potential to cause material economic harm around the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak a global emergency. The decision came as the …

Agriculture Victoria has confirmed new phylloxera detections in the Yarra Valley – both inside the current Maroondah Phylloxera Infested Zone (PIZ) and outside the PIZ in the Phylloxera Risk Zone (PRZ) to the south-east of the Maroondah PIZ, near Yarra Junction. All detections were as a result of industry self-reporting. The detections within the PIZ have been …

Wine Equalisation Tax and Rebate The ATO understands a number of businesses are impacted by the recent bushfires, and have recently received some questions regarding the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) producer rebate from impacted businesses. Due to the bushfires affecting the wine and cider industry, producers of wine and cider may need to seek alternative …

By Damien Griffante,  Policy Manager – Market Access. Imagine if France decided tomorrow that the grape variety Chardonnay was no longer called Chardonnay, and instead was called something completely fictitious. Now imagine, France then created a random geographic boundary around some Chardonnay vineyards in Burgundy, claiming it to be a new Geographic Indication (GI) named …

Throughout this unprecedented bushfire crisis, Australian Grape & Wine has been in close contact with the Minister for Agriculture, the Minister for Trade and the Prime Minister’s Office.   We are seeking an extension of the pool for the Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant to be extended to $20 million per annum, more funds …

* NEW SOUTH WALES UPDATE * Bushfires are affecting or will affect many wine regions around Australia this year. Vineyard owners whose vineyards have been directly impacted by fires, are encouraged to familiarise themselves with various support services available.  As of today, this is the current situation in NSW:  The fires on the east coast …