AUSTRALIA and the UK have signed a new wine agreement and mutual recognition agreement, both of which will continue the flow of wine between Australia and the UK post-Brexit.
Minister for trade, tourism and investment Simon Birmingham said these agreements are necessary steps to ensure Australian exporters have the ability to get their goods to the UK with minimal disruptions and without additional trade barriers or regulations.
In short, the agreements ensure wine exports arrangements already in place will apply post-Brexit.
The wine agreement mimics an agreement already in place in the EU, meaning Australian wine labelling and certification standards and winemaking practices will be accepted.
Minister for agriculture David Littleproud said “we can grow our UK trade under this agreement and put money in Australian wine growers’ pockets,” an important condition as one-third of Australian exported wine went to the UK in 2018.
Minister for industry, science and technology Karen Andrews said the mutual recognition agreement would help facilitate trade between Australia and the UK, guaranteeing continuity of the existing, mutual arrangements post-Brexit as well as continuing recognition of test reports and certificates issued by both countries.
“For Australian businesses, this will eliminate the cost and time of duplicative testing of the need for re-certification when their products arrive in the other country’s market,” Ms Andrews said.
