Brussels, 18 January 2018 – The European wine companies, represented by CEEV, welcome the Trade Agreement between Japan and the EU and issue a short publication on the benefits of such agreement for the EU Wine sector.
Japan is a longstanding priority market for the EU wine sector. Today it is the 5th export market for EU wines, after the US, Switzerland, China and Canada. In 2016, EU wine exports to Japan accounted for €749 mio, which represents around 13%of total EU agri-food exports to that market.
Market share of EU wine in Japan is declining primarily due to increasing competition from third countries’ wines, mainly Chile and Australia, who benefit from tariffs removal in virtue of their own Free Trade Agreements with Japan.
The EU wine industry supports the EU trade agreement with Japan as it provides the tools to regain competitivity: it will remove import tariffs and technical barriers for EU wines and will ensure protection for our Geographical Indications. Also, the EU-Japan trade agreement will bring an increase of wine exports with a net gain in growth and jobs for the European economy.
Why the EU wine industry supports the EU-Japan FTA
- Customs duties will be eliminated for all wines at the entry into force of the agreement. This will allow EU wines to compete on a level playing field with third countries’ wines. The resulting €112 mio annual savings will permit a reallocation to worthy promotion and marketing actions, thus ending up having a more beneficial impact on exports.
- Technical barriers to trade related to the authorisation of oenological practices will be removed. This will allow to cut red tape and additional related costs of production for companies when they export to Japan.
- Geographical Indications: 100 high-quality EU GI wines will enjoy the same level of protection that they have in Europe. Besides, all associated charges or taxes for GI registration will be removed in view of facilitating GIs protection in Japan.
- A Joint Wine Committee will be created to foster collaboration and dialogue between the EU and Japan, and to solve conflicts related to wine.
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