[18] In 2008, the Council of Australian Governments reached agreement on amending the relevant legislation on trade policy measures in the states and territories. See NIA, para. 12 years Ris figures 11-12. Countries that account for about 80 per cent of Australian wine exports already accept this special exemption for wine. This includes the EU as a whole as well as the members of the World Wine Trade Group. The other countries that have signed this particular agreement on wine labelling are all moving in this direction. Some of them have already ratified it. So an international consensus, if you will, is already making progress, and we would just be essentially participating in that international consensus. [23] In accordance with Article 4 of the 2007 Agreement on Labelling Requirements for Wine (2007 Agreement), labelling measures must be applied in a transparent, non-discriminatory manner and in accordance with the WTO Agreement. As the third World Wine Trade Group agreement signed by South Africa, the other two agreements are the Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Oenological Practices and the Agreement on Wine Labelling Requirements.

Both agreements have been ratified by Parliament and have been implemented in South Africa since 2011. In March 2013, the WWTG concluded the Protocol to the 2007 Agreement on Wine Labelling Requirements, which builds on the 2007 Agreement and establishes common parameters for labelling requirements with respect to information on alcohol tolerance, variety, vintage and wine region. The protocol ensures regulatory predictability and consistency across all WWTG markets. The Protocol has been in force for Australia, Chile, Georgia and New Zealand since October 2017. The World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) is a group of government and industry representatives from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Georgia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States and Uruguay. Founded in 1998, the group aims to facilitate international wine trade through the exchange of information, the discussion of regulatory issues in wine markets and joint action to remove barriers to trade. WWTG has negotiated three agreements and a Memorandum of Understanding that promote international wine trade. Sustainability labels for wine are becoming increasingly important for wine producers, retailers and consumers. At the 2011 meeting in Santiago, Chile, a joint seminar between WWTG and FIVS was held to review the sustainability initiatives of various WWTG members as well as some European countries. The lectures of this seminar can be found here.

During the Santiago meeting, the Industry Section proposed a set of broad guidelines to align labelling claims for national and regional sustainability programmes with the requirements of Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Convention on Labelling Requirements. .