Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Wine) (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2021
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Lord Gardiner of Kimble
That the Grand Committee do consider the Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Wine) (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2021.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Gardiner of Kimble) (Con)
My Lords, this instrument concerns protection of geographical indications in Great Britain. GIs are a form of intellectual property protection for the names of food, drink and agricultural products with qualities attributable to the place they are produced or the traditional methods by which they are made. Wider examples include Scotch whisky, Welsh lamb and Melton Mowbray pork pies. This instrument concerns only wines such as an English regional wine, iconic products such as champagne and Rioja, and corresponding traditional terms: for example, grand cru or sparkling. It contains a necessary amendment to the retained EU regulation which provides the legal basis for the wine geographical indication scheme.
The amendment made by this short and technical instrument corrects an error in the original legislation, identified since the end of the transition period. I express my considerable apology and regret for this. Clearly, one seeks to have all legislation in the perfect form. I can report that this error was identified within the department. We immediately sought to remedy it, hence this instrument has used the “made affirmative” procedure. It ensures that the proper registration and protection of GIs and traditional terms in Great Britain continues and that the UK maintains compliance with its international agreements.
This SI does not make any wider policy changes. It corrects article 107 of retained EU regulation 1308/2013, concerning protected wine names and traditional terms. Three separate exit instruments provided for amendments in relation to this article, but in the process an inadvertent revocation was made of the text that was intended to be in place. This instrument puts the intended provision in place, ensuring that all established wine GIs and traditional terms are fully protected and legitimately appear on a public register of wines and traditional terms. “Established” means those names that were protected under the relevant EU schemes on the last day of the transition period. This in turn ensures that the UK Government fully comply with their GI commitments under the EU withdrawal agreement, and the WTO’s TRIPS obligations—the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement.
As well as making a direct amendment to a retained EU regulation, the instrument includes a corresponding revocation of domestic secondary legislation. The provision revoked is Regulation 6(3) of SI 2020/1452, one of the previous exit instruments I mentioned. As the provision has been rendered ineffective, it is being removed for clarity.
Since this instrument entered into force on 10 March 2021, the relevant entries in our public GI registers have been updated to show the date of registration as 10 March, rather than 31 December 2020. This change has been made to just over 2,000 records; seven of these are UK names, the rest are predominantly from EU countries. We have engaged with the Food Standards Agency and the network of trading standards authorities, who have confirmed that they are not aware of any wine GI infringements during this period.
We have also engaged with the European Commission and have provided reassurance that we are not aware of any breaches with respect to the affected product names given our checks with the responsible bodies. Furthermore, we have confirmed with the Intellectual Property Office that there have not been any conflicts with trademark applications during the period in question. We have also engaged with the two main UK wine trade bodies, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association and WineGB, and with the Scottish and Welsh Governments. All were appreciative of the quick efforts we had taken to rectify the error and our engagement with them; they reported no knowledge of any breaches to affected product names. I reassure your Lordships that all product names under the three other GI schemes have not been affected, including spirit drinks and agri- foods, nor are wine GIs and traditional terms which are protected domestically through other international agreements.
As I have outlined, the regulations in this instrument are essential to ensure that the UK and EU wine GIs and traditional terms are appropriately protected in Great Britain, and that we comply with our important international obligations. For those reasons, I beg to move.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Con)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to what has been a very constructive debate. It is clearly essential that we have the right legislation in place for the effective operation of the UK’s wine GI scheme, with appropriate product name protections visibly in place.
I enjoyed my noble friend Lord Hannan of Kingsclere’s absolute endorsement of viticulture in this country, and if I could trade some counties with my him and the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, in Suffolk we have some excellent wine production as well. Clearly, the champagne houses are not only buying land in Kent because of climate change but also because the soil structure is very similar to that obviously famous part of France—and that is why there is this commitment. The export of English and Welsh wines, in particular, around the world is an area of expansion and growth, and I am pleased that my noble friend mentioned innovation start-ups, which are really important.
I reiterate to both noble Baronesses my regret that the error has happened, but I would also like to remark upon their thoughtfulness in raising the matter of the official, whom I am not allowed to name, who detected this error. I am very grateful for their generosity. I am aware—as we all are, because we are all engaged in this—of the significant pressures on both policy and legal teams with regard to the SI programme. This was particularly the case in the run-up to the end of the transition. That is why, to pick up the important point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, we will continue to review and improve our processes in respect of legal and policy checks and clearances of legislation. This will include a consideration as to whether there is enough resource in place. I regret every error; the perfect form is something we strive for, but sometimes these things happen. I will always be up front when they do, but we obviously need to do everything we can to stop these issues manifesting themselves.
My noble friends raised the issue of VI-1s, which already exist for wine imports from other origins, such as Australia, the United States and Chile. These wines remain extremely competitive in our, and, indeed, the EU’s, marketplace. We believe the new self-certification requirement to be appropriate and affordable.
I also say to my noble friends, particularly my noble friends Lord Moynihan and Lord Holmes of Richmond, that leaving the EU of course gives us the opportunity to consider and review changes in policy to suit the needs of British people and our businesses. We will continue to monitor all areas of retained EU law, including those concerning wine certification, to ensure that they are fit for purpose. I remember my noble friend Lord Holmes of Richmond raising the electronic transmission of wine certification strongly in debate on the Agriculture Bill. It is possible to transmit by those means and we will consider all aspects of VI-1 processes and their transmission. Our immediate attention has been focused on whether VI-1s serve a practical and useful purpose in today’s global wine trade. However, I remember the document and officials are considering this area.
A number of points were also made about the whole scenario of the wine world, including by the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter. The first thing to say is that the United Kingdom is one of the most important global wine-trading nations. The UK is second only to the United States of America in the value of imports. She also raised the point that there were issues, which we have all identified, post the end of the transition with imports and arrival. My understanding is that these matters are improving all the time, as paperwork becomes better understood. A lot of attention has been paid to this and it is improving. It was interesting that imports from France and Italy were down by 10% in 2020, compared to 2019, but imports from Spain were up by 10%. Those are the three countries which have a significant supply issue.
I certainly want to take up the opportunities that my noble friends have raised for exports of our excellent English and Welsh wines. I should also say that we have recently extended the easement where any wines arriving from the EU will not need to have associated wine certification to 1 January 2022. This will provide time for the sector to adjust to the new trading arrangements, including those set out under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
I agree that there have been these initial problems with exports to certain EU member states. We have a considerable interest in wine exports to the EU, of course, which total about £400 million per annum. This is largely made up of re-exports of imported wine from countries such as Australia, Chile and the United States, and fine wines from all around the world. Those problems are very important not only for our own domestic wine but obviously for this significant re-exporting, which is a key feature and part of the employment aspects of this sector.
We have been working hard with the companies concerned in this area and with their agents, our diplomatic network and member states to resolve the immediate issues, and what can be done to ensure these problems do not reoccur for future shipments. I cannot promise that we are in the perfect form on these matters as yet. What I know is that, across the piece, as exports have been building up since 1 January, these issues have been resolved and trade is starting to re-energise itself—not only because of coronavirus but because of the work we are doing in this sector.
With those comments and, if I may say so, a general endorsement of the opportunities for domestic wine consumption and exports, I recommend that the Committee agrees to these regulations so that we can rectify an error which, thank goodness, was identified by an excellent official. There was no issue with any goods and, from the work we have done, we are clear that there was no issue of any difficulty during those nine weeks. We would of course not have wanted that to arise. I will look at Hansard in case there are some points that I may not have covered, but with those remarks I commend the instrument to the Committee.