News

New laws that will come into effect on 10 November 2023 will mean that unfair contract terms in standard form contracts will no longer be allowable and penalties for breaches of the law will apply. Australian Grape and Wine encourages wineries to avoid unfair conduct in their dealings with growers, to check their contract terms …

In August Federal Minister for Water Tanya Plibersek announced her intention to allow Commonwealth buybacks of irrigation licenses along the Murray Darling Basin to assist with the recovery of 450GL of water for the environment. The move will require the introduction of legislation to remove an existing cap on buy backs. This legislation will be …

The latest ABARES for wine and winegrapes was released this week. Their sobering projections reflect the long-term decline in global wine consumption and a wide-spread oversupply crisis. ABARES predict the value of Australian wine exports will continue to decline in 2023−24 to $1.9 billion, a decrease in value of 5%. Grape prices will also fall …

From 1 November 2023, the Queensland Container Refund Scheme (“CRS”) will be expanded to include wine bottles.  Consumers in Queensland will be able to redeem their wine bottles for a 10-cent refund within Queensland, and ‘beverage manufacturers’ (defined by legislation as either the maker, importer or distributor of the packaged beverage) will need to pay the scheme …

There have been a number of reports in recent weeks regarding the “breakdown” in the Australia -European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. While both Australia and the EU had been publicly aiming to finalise the agreement by mid-2023, this urgency has recently been tempered. This is because the EU has continued to hold …

On 5 August 2023, China announced it would remove the 80 per cent duties on Australian barley which were first introduced in May 2020 in relation to dumping of Australian barley.  Australia initiated a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute in December 2022 which was then suspended in April 2023 in order for China to conduct …

For many winegrape producers, the 2023 vintage was the most difficult and challenging since the turn of the century. A recent profitability project by Charles Sturt University estimates that winegrape production is not a financially viable business for many growers in inland Australia. We encourage impacted businesses to consider their eligibility for Government assistance to …

Applications for Round 5 of the Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grants opened on 1 August 2023 and close at 5.00pm ACST on 30 September 2023. The objective of the Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant is to support wine and cider producers who add value by encouraging visitors to wine regions, and thereby encourage …

NOTE: There is no action required at this present time until the Queensland Government have published the Waste Reduction and Recycling (Expansion of Container Refund Scheme and Other Matters) Amendment Regulation 2023 (“the Regulation”), which we expect to happen in August 2023. COEX will actively contact you via email or phone to onboard your business. …

The CCFL47 meetings took place on 15 -19 May 2023 in Ottawa Canada. Of greatest importance, was the item regarding the development of the Alcohol labelling paper, which has been on the CCFL future work agenda for some time – without being progressed. No paper had been prepared and following diverging member state views on …