Choice for Winemakers
June 15, 2009
15 June 2009
Tukituki MP Craig Foss and Napier MP Chris Tremain have welcomed the Government’s decision to give wineries the choice as to where they send their wine to be tested for export clearance to Europe.
‘Until now our local wineries haven’t had a choice, they all had to pay to ship their bottles to Auckland for testing,” says Mr Foss. ‘ This added significant cost to the industry.‘
Craggy Range Winemaker, Steve Smith, is enthusiastic about the changes. ‘It’s great to see we have a Food Safety Minister who wants to reduce compliance costs,’ he says, ‘and can recognise pointless regulations.’ Mr Smith also adds ‘With the Minister allowing laboratories across the country to be accredited to test wine headed for Europe, winemakers can now choose who they want to be their service provider.’
Mr Tremain is equally adamant that this is a good move for our local wineries.
‘Craig and myself took the local wine industries frustrations on this issue to the Minister, and those frustrations have been heard,’ said Mr Tremain. ‘At the end of the day it means that our local wine producers have greater choice and compliance costs may be lowered.’
Every batch of wine shipped to Europe must be tested to ensure it meets EU import requirements
Laboratories can apply for registration to test export wine from July 1.
