News

Australian Grape & Wine has approached US grape virus expert Marc Fuchs to present to key decision-makers in Government and industry on the seriousness of grapevine red blotch virus. The disease is known to lower vine vigour and yield, reduce fruit quality and negatively affect wine composition, resulting in reported losses of up to USD170,000 …

Australian Grape & Wine would like to ensure that vineyard managers considering planting new vineyards, replanting or grafting existing ones understand the risk (or lack thereof). We are concerned about the reaction to isolated reports of crown gall symptoms associated with propagation material. Crown gall symptoms have only been reported in a small percentage of …

ABARES latest outlook for crops report released earlier this month highlights the ongoing impacts of a long-term decline in global wine consumption. ‘Per capita wine consumption in major wine consuming markets has been falling for the past decade, driven by competition from other alcoholic beverages and an increased consumer focus on health and wellness.’ In …

Draft changes to Special Consumption Tax Vietnam’s National Assembly (Parliament) is expected to consider and approve increases to the Special Consumption Tax on 8 June 2024. Based on deliberations to date, for most wine this will likely lead to an increase in the ad valorem rate of tax from 35% to 45% from 1 January …

Temporary allowance for Ontario’s MRL for phosphorous acid Working with AWRI and Wine Australia, we have confirmed with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) that they will maintain the temporary raising of the maximum residue limit (MRL) for phosphorous acid in Australian wines from 0.1 ppm to 21 ppm. This means that the LCBO …

UK wine regulatory reform As noted in previous updates, the UK is undergoing significant reforms of its wine regulation under a phased approach. Both phase one, which was implemented in January 2024 and phase two, which will come into force in July 2024, are now complete. On 16 April 2024 the UK began consultation on …

Download the Australian Grape & Wine 2024 Budget Brief for Australian wine producers.

In the 2023–24 Budget, the Australian Government announced the biosecurity levy and charge (the BPL) as one of the funding sources for its election commitment to strengthen Australia’s biosecurity system through a new sustainable funding model. Under the new model, funding of the biosecurity system would be more broadly based and ‘shared across general taxpayers, …

Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the 2024-25 Federal Budget on Tuesday night and the third under the Albanese Government. The Budget papers revealed a $9.3 billion budget surplus in FY2023-24 – the first time a Government has delivered consecutive Budget surpluses in over a decade – with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 1.75 per …

Dr Craig Emerson released his interim report into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct on Monday 8th April.  The Review acknowledged there are market concentration issues in other retail industries in Australia, and that common issues can occur across industries, especially for perishable products. The Review acknowledged there are questions about whether the wine …