Australia has reached an agreement with Canada to remove unfair restrictions on Australian wine sales imposed by the Canadian federal government and in the provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the removal of these discriminatory measures would increase access for Australian wine producers in the important Canadian market.
“Removing these trade barriers will mean our wine exporters can now compete on a level playing field with Canadian wine producers,” Minister Birmingham said.
“With Australian wine exporters enjoying zero tariffs into Canada, this is a market with real potential for growth and this agreement will provide further opportunities for our wine exporters to sell more Australian wine in Canada.
“Discriminatory measures have disadvantaged our wine exporters in Canada for a number of years now.
“This agreement is demonstration that we will always work to ensure our wine producers are treated fairly in the global market and that we will stand-up against any practices that could disadvantage their ability to export our high-quality wine to the world.”
Canada is worth about $180 million a year to the Australian wine industry.
In January 2018, the Australian Government initiated dispute action in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against Canada’s discriminatory measures impacting Australian wine at the federal level and in four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec.
In April of last year, Canada agreed to remove unfair restrictions on Australian wine sales in the province of British Columbia. With agreement to remove restrictions at the federal level and in Ontario and Nova Scotia, discussions continue on the last province of Quebec.
“We thank the Canadian Government for their ongoing engagement on this matter and will continue to work with them to resolve our remaining concerns as quickly as possible.”
Photo by Jason Hafso on Unsplash
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