Australian wine industry backs push to take China to WTO

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan and Agriculture Minister David Littleproud announced on Saturday the Australian Government would initiate a dispute settlement process through the WTO to “vigorously defend the interests of Australian winemakers”.

“We believe the Australian Government’s decision to initiate this process is the right call for Australia’s grape and wine businesses,” Australian Grape & Wine chief executive Tony Battaglene said.

“As an export-focused industry, Australia’s grape growers and winemakers have benefited enormously from the rules-based international trading system, with the WTO at its core.

“In taking this decision, the Australian Government is demonstrating its commitment to Australia’s grape and wine businesses and respecting the rules-based international trading system.”

In March, China’s Ministry of Commerce accused the Australian wine industry of dumping, subsidisation and injuring the Chinese domestic wine industry, imposing anti-dumping tariffs of between 116.2 per cent and 218.4 per cent on Australian wine for five years.

The industry has repeatedly denied the accusations.

“Australian producers have not dumped wine on the Chinese market, nor received trade-distorting subsidies,” Mr Battaglene said.

As the settlement process gets under way, the industry and Federal Government have embarked on a mission to diversify export markets for Australian wine to make up for hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue from the Chinese market.

Tariffs on Australian wine entering the United Kingdom were eliminated this week with the announcement of Australia’s free trade agreement with the UK.