UKVA aims for ‘clear commitment’ to rejoin OIV

The UKVA has welcomed the news that the government is considering taking the UK back into the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), and has vowed to work towards a “clear commitment” to do so.

Chief executive of the UKVA Barry Lewis told db it had been encouraging to see so much government and cross-party support for the UK wine industry in last week’s  Westminster debate on the UK wine industry, and welcomed in particular the apparent softening of the government’s attitude towards rejoining the OIV. In the debate,  Farming Minister George Eustice said he would look at the issue again in the wake of Brexit.

In the debate, Eustice, who campaigned to leave the EU, defended the UK remaining outside the OIV since withdrawing in 2005 over costs, saying that the benefits of doing so would have been “questionable” and arguing that it would have meant the UK “would have been required by EU law to do what the European Commission told it to do”.  However he admitted that now there was a case to rejoin.

“Obviously as we leave the EU, regain our seat on many international forums and are able to speak freely again, that is something we will look at again,” he told MPs.

Lewis said the UKVA would work with Defra, Eustice’s office and the UKVA’s new wine champion, Neil Parish MP, who called the debate, to firm up the minister’s comments into a “clear commitment” on OIV membership.

“It was good to hear the Minister say that following Brexit there was a case to re-join the OIV,” he told db. “This matter is a critical one as it gives us a place at the table ensuring we represent Britain’s interests when various technical standards relating to vines and wines are ratified and ultimately applied internationally.”

“In a post-Brexit world OIV membership will take on heightened importance for our industry.”

English Wine Producers, the marketing body which represents the majority of wine producers in the UK, also welcomed the news.

“Joining the OIV in the future will allow the UK access to participation in greater wine research material and a seat at international wine discussions and negotiations – something this industry will welcome,” Julia Trustram-Eve of Engligh Wine Producers said.

Growing calls to rejoin 

Prior to the Brexit vote, wine critic Jancis Robinson used her keynote speech at the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium in Brighton in May to appeal to Defra to rejoin the OIV, claiming not being a member risked the UK’s fledgling wine industry being “marginalized” as a wine-producing country, and having “no voice whatsoever” in international negotiations and regulations.

Her calls were supported by three senior wine academics and experts, John Corbet-Milward of the WSTA, Chris Foss of Plumpton College and Peter Hayes of the OIV, who published an open letter on Robinson’s website in August, arguing that it was a necessary step to promote the interest of the UK wine industry and gain credibility and influence within the wine-producing world. They argued that being a member of the OIV would make up for the UK not having a seat at the EU Wine Management Committee once it leaves the EU and that the UK should play a part in constructing rules governing a trade of global importance, given the size and importance of its wine market.

The 46 members of the OIV’s represent around 80% of the world’s wine production, and it is recognised as the reference body for technical regulations in the EU.