Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Wine) (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2021

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Monday 19th April 2021 General Committees

[The Chair]

Before we begin, I would like to remind Members to observe social distancing and only sit in places that are clearly marked. I would also like to remind Members that Mr Speaker has stated that masks should be worn in Committee. Hansard would be most grateful if Members could send their speaking notes by email to [e-mail].

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Wine) (Amendment, etc.) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021, No. 279).

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone.

The instrument concerns protection of geographical indications in Great Britain. Geographical indications, or 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. Examples include Scotch whisky, Welsh lamb and Melton Mowbray pork pies. However, the instrument concerns only wine.

The instrument contains a necessary amendment to the retained EU regulation that provides the legal basis for the wine GI scheme. I am sorry to be taking up the Committee’s time with this, and can only apologise that the original error was made in the large number of SIs that we had to prepare at the end of the transition period. The amendment corrects an error in the original legislation that was identified by a very sharp-eyed civil servant in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—and we are very grateful to her. We have used the made affirmative procedure as the resolution provided by this instrument was needed quickly. This ensures that the intellectual property protection of wine GIs and traditional terms in Great Britain continues and the UK maintains compliance with its international agreements. The SI does not make any wider policy changes.

All we are doing is correcting article 107 of retained EU regulation No.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. The instrument puts the intended provision back in place. That ensures that all established wine GIs and traditional terms are protected and legitimately appear on the public register of wines and traditional terms that we protect. That in turn ensures that the UK Government fully comply with their GI commitments under the EU withdrawal agreement, and our World Trade Organisation obligations.

As well as making a direct amendment to a retained EU regulation, the instrument includes a corresponding revocation of domestic secondary legislation. Since the 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 under 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, which have confirmed that they are not aware of any wine GI infringements during this period related to the mistake. We have provided this reassurance to the European Commission. We have also engaged with the two main wine trade bodies, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association and WINEGB, and with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, who were appreciative of our speedy efforts to rectify the error and our engagement with them. They also thankfully reported no knowledge of any breaches to affected product names.

I want to reassure the Committee that all product names under the three other GI schemes have not been affected, including spirit drinks and agri-foods.

I commend the SI to the Committee.

[The Chair]

I am pleased to say that we have until 6 o’clock to debate the regulations.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Prentis]

Clearly, it is essential that we have the right legislation in place for the effective operation of the UK’s GI scheme. That is of course what we are here to talk about this afternoon. However, I am prepared to deal briefly with the hon. Gentleman’s points about VI-1s, though they are not directly in scope, so I will be brief.

VI-1s already exist for other nations—Australia, the US and Chile. Those wines are very competitive in the UK market and the existence of a VI-1 form does not prevent them from being enjoyed here. The hon. Gentleman is right that leaving the EU gives us the opportunity to consider whether we should review the policy to suit our needs. As he said, it is possibly a Brexit benefit and it certainly gives us the opportunity to ensure that the scheme that we have in the UK is right for us, our importers and our exporters.

As the hon. Gentleman said, we are an important wine-trading nation, second only to the United States in the value of our imports. We also export, and re-export mainly, large quantities of wine to the EU—about £400 million- worth a year. Leaving the EU gives us scope to review our policies and we continue to monitor all areas of retained EU law, including those concerning wine certification, to ensure that they are fit for purpose.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association was pleased with our plans to issue an easement to the need for VI-1 certificates to accompany imports of wines from the EU. It also welcomes the introduction of a simplified VI-1 certificate—the arrangements for the EU and UK wine trade that were set out in the trade and co-operation agreement at the end of last year.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs treats the geographical indications regime very seriously. The UK has a proud and growing food reputation and GIs play an important role as exemplars of our quality producers. We are committed to celebrating the success of those products and driving further market access to ensure that they are enjoyed around the world, as symbolised by our new UK scheme logos.

It is right that we put the correct legislation in place and that we took steps to correct the error as soon as possible. I am always delighted to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss other aspects of our wine trade—both import and export—whenever we can find a convenient date.

I commend the regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.