Vinexpo outlines challenges of Brexit

As British prime minister Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50, Vinexpo has outlined the five key issues the wine and spirits industries will face in the wake of Brexit.

The issues are: reaching favourable trade agreements; Brexit’s impact on duty, retail pricing, category management and distribution in the UK; re-exports; the impact of Brexit on travel retail; and the protection of designation of origin areas.

The topics will be discussed at a conference taking place at Bordeaux’s Parc des Expositions on Tuesday 20 June at 4pm.

The conference will open with a review of the current EU trade agreement regarding wine and spirits imports, exports and tariffs.

“Because the UK is the world’s second largest imported wine market and a major spirits exporter, the Brexit challenge is as acute for the UK as it is for wine producers in France, Italy and Spain and elsewhere in the world,” said wine writer Jane Anson, who will moderate the conference.

Guillaume Deglise, CEO of Vinexpo, added: “In a wider context, among our 48,000 attendees, there will be producers and buyers currently excluded from the EU favourable tariff zone who see Brexit as an opportunity to penetrate the UK wine and spirits market.”

The value of UK wine imports is estimated to be £28 billion according to recent Vinexpo/IWSR data. Volume imports are forecast to slow over the next five years.

Exports of all spirits from the UK reached £4.9 billion in 2016, according to the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, led by Scotch whisky exports.

Vinexpo runs from 18-21 June at the Parc des Expositions in Bordeaux. Over 48,000 wine producers and buyers from 150 countries are expected to attend. The line up of speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.