Australian wine exporters can look forward to added benefits from a proposed new Wine Agreement that builds on the 1994 and 2009 agreements between Australia and the European Union.
This follows the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union this week which sees Australian winemakers being given the green light on use ‘Prosecco’ although it will be phased out for exports over the next 10 years.
Import tariffs on Australian wine exports to the EU will immediately reduce to zero once the FTA enters into force.
The new Wine Agreement includes protections for Australian wine exporters that will allow all other existing grape variety names to be used indefinitely, even if they become an EU GI in the future.
The seven additional Australian GIs that will be protected in the EU through the Wine Agreement are New England, Pokolbin, Upper Hunter Valley, Mount Gambier, Robe, Wrattonbully and Australia.
The seven new grape variety names that Australian wine exporters can use in the EU through the Wine Agreement are Alicante Bouschet, Alicante Henri Bouschet, Carignan, Carignane, Nero d’Avola, Blaufrankisch and Friulano.
Australian wine exporters will also see access to simplified certification requirements, reduced analyte testing requirements and ‘most favoured nation’ treatment for export certification.
Last year 245 Australian wine exporters shipped 76 million litres of wine valued at $143 million to EU member markets.
This represented 12 percent of total export volume and six percent of export value, with additional wine sent to the UK and then on-shipped to EU destinations.
Wine Australia CEO Dr Martin Cole said, “The Wine Agreements between Australia and the EU in the past have helped to reduce barriers for Australian wine exporters, helping to give a competitive advantage in the region and have meant that fewer changes to labelling and winemaking practices are needed in order to sell their wine in the EU.”
In 2024, the EU consumed 1.2 billion 9L cases of wine – about half of worldwide wine consumption.
However, most of the wine consumed (more than 90 percent) is produced in the EU – mainly in Italy, France, Spain and Germany (IWSR).
Key markets of growth for Australian wine exports in 2025 were Denmark (up one percent in value to $28 million) and the Netherlands (up seven percent in value to $21 million).
The volume of wine imports into the EU from non-EU sources declined by six percent in the 12 months ended September 2025.
Chile and South Africa are the top non-EU sources of wine, with Australia sitting third, according to Trade Data Monitor.
Chile and South Africa both have zero import tariffs on wine to the EU.
All wine consumed in the EU has declined by three percent in volume per year over the past five years, while value has increased by one percent per year over the same period.
The IWSR says the value of wine consumption is forecast to be flat over the next five years.
The top markets for Australian wine consumption by value are Denmark, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Over the past five years, Denmark and Ireland recorded the most growth, according to the IWSR.
The International Monetary Fund says the EU bloc of countries have a 14 percent share of global GDP.
Further information about the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement can be found at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australia-European Union Wine Agreement at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
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