Date laid: 25 October 2023
Parliamentary procedure: affirmative
These draft Regulations propose to revoke certain production and marketing standards in relation to wine and by-products of winemaking in England which are currently set out in retained EU law. The changes include allowing the blending of imported wines, the use of hybrid grape varieties and the production and sale of low alcoholpiquette which is made from the by-products of winemaking. We note that concerns were raised during consultation about the impact of some of the proposed changes on the quality of wine and consumer confidence. While the changes may deliver new opportunities for businesses and more choice for consumers as suggested by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), it will be important that all products are labelled clearly so that consumers can make an informed choice of what they are buying.
We also note that, as a result of this instrument, businesses in England will be operating under different rules from businesses in Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland will remain subject to EU law. This raises questions about the operation of the UK’s internal market. Defra plans to lay a further instrument to reform the legislation relating to wine more generally which it says will produce alignment between England and Wales, but not Scotland, as well as an instrument to support the ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). We regret that the Department did not refer to these future reform plans and to a lack of support for this instrument by the Scottish and Welsh Governments in the Explanatory Memorandum, and we remain deeply concerned about the lack of a uniform approach and level playing field across Great Britain.The House may wish to press the Minister on these issues.
These draft Regulations are drawn to the special attention of the House on the ground that they are politically or legally important and give rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House.
1.These draft Regulations propose to revoke certain production and marketing standards in relation to wine and by-products of winemaking in England which are currently set out in retained EU law (REUL).
2.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) states that the proposed reforms form part of the Government’s Smarter Regulation Programme “which reviews and reforms regulation following EU exit with the objective of supporting economic growth and to reduce the cost of living”. According to Defra, the proposed changes will “remove barriers, support innovation and simplify regulations to help support growth in our wine trade and production industry, giving them the freedom to meet new and evolving demands, while also maintaining the high standards that consumers have come to expect”.
3.Amongst other changes, this instrument proposes to:
4.According to Defra, “many” of the responses to the public consultation on the changes were “supportive”. We note, however, that concerns were raised about the impact of some the changes on quality and consumer confidence. For example, while 27 respondents felt that allowing coupage of imported wine would have a positive impact, 45 respondents, including fine wine businesses and domestic producers, indicated that this would have a negative effect and expressed concern that labelling would not be clear enough to indicate the origin of the grapes used.1 Similarly, while 36 respondents welcomed allowing the use of hybrid grape varieties for PDO wines, other responses raised concerns around consumer confidence and indicated that there would be a risk from lower quality wine which could damage the reputation of domestic wines.
5.We asked the Department how consumer interests will be protected once hybrid grape varieties can be used and the blending of imported wines is allowed, and whether there will be clear labelling for consumers. Defra responded:
“The coupage (blending) of wine is a practice that has been used for centuries to improve the quality of wine. Giving our importers and bottlers scope to blend wines will boost UK jobs and help them bring better and new products onto the market. The provenance (origin) of wines used in the blend will continue to appear on the label so the consumer will remain fully informed about what they are buying.
The use of hybrid grape varieties is similarly not new. Their greater resilience to both disease and climate variability is well documented. Seyval Blanc is one such hybrid variety that is grown successfully in the UK and a sparkling wine using 100% Seyval Blanc won a gold medal in this year’s WineGB Awards, which underlines their quality potential.
The UK is one of the largest importers of wine and has one of the most globally competitive and dynamic wine markets. UK consumers benefit from a huge range of wines at all prices. This competition helps to ensure the consumer gets the wine they want at a price they can afford. Uncompetitive or poor-quality wines would be unlikely to survive in this market. […] [W]e do not believe that quality will suffer.”
6.In relation to the use of hybrid grape varieties and the export of such wines, Defra explained that:
“The changes to allow hybrid grape varieties will give producers scope to use a broader range of varieties and harness the benefits of greater natural disease and climate resistance that hybrid grape varieties possess. It will be up to them as to whether they see incorporating these varieties is consistent with their PDO specification, but like the EU which has introduced identical provisions, we want to give our producers the choice. We do not see that allowing hybrid varieties would impede exports of domestically produced wines.”
7.While the proposed changes may deliver new opportunities for businesses and more choice for consumers in England, it will be important that all products are labelled clearly, so that consumers can make an informed choice of what they are buying.
8.We raised with the Department the potential public health impact of allowing the production and sale of piquette which will lead to cheaper, less alcoholic drinks being put on the market. We asked whether the risk of young people being introduced to alcohol consumption in this way had been considered. Defra told us that:
“Piquette is produced from grape pomace. It is not a wine but can be fermented into a niche lower alcohol ‘cooler’ type product. Permitting its production will give producers scope to add more value from their grape harvest. While we recognise the potential here, we are also realistic, and do not believe that piquette is likely to become a mainstream drink anytime soon, we see that piquette would be another choice for consumers but not lead to an increase in consumption. Public health concerns have been considered for all changes and we have concluded that these proposals do not increase public health risks.”
9.The proposed changes apply to England only, apart from those regarding the use of hybrid grape varieties which relate to the domestic intellectual property system for protecting GIs and are therefore reserved and apply to England, Wales and Scotland. EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland.
10.We note that changing standards in England only may impact on the UK’s internal market. For example, once producers in England can lawfully blend imported wines for sale in England, they will also be allowed, in line with the principles under the UK Internal Market Act 2020, to place these blended wines on the market in the whole of GB, while Welsh and Scottish producers will remain subject to retained EU standards and will therefore not be allowed to blend imported wines.
11.We asked the Department whether a co-ordinated approach would have been preferable to maintain uniformity of rules and a level playing field across GB. Defra responded:
“Defra and the Welsh Government ran a joint consultation on wine reform, but the Welsh Government subsequently decided that it did not want the provisions of the Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023 relating to devolved matters to apply to Wales or to make its own mirror Regulations. Similarly, Scottish Government decided that it did not want the provisions of the Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023 on devolved matters to apply in Scotland. Defra officials will continue to regularly engage with all devolved Governments on wine reforms.
Nevertheless, Defra is in the throes of working on another SI which would revoke and consolidate a lot of the legislation relating to wine and would carry forward the reforms made in the Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023. The Welsh Government have indicated that it wants the consolidated provisions of that SI to apply to Wales. This would result in alignment between England and Wales, including the position on blending of wine. Subject to the views of the Welsh Government, we hope to be able to launch a joint consultation on the reform and consolidation SI by summer 2024.
[…] Scotland has noted that, unless necessary, e.g. to implement provisions in international trade agreements, its political view is that they generally do not wish to diverge from EU law. They will be making parallel regulations to some regulations that we are about to lay in Parliament for England (the Wine (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024) which will change wine law to enable the UK to ratify the CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership] agreement and will also make changes relating to wine-making practices which mirror recent changes made to EU law.”
12.Asked for additional information about its plans for further reform, Defra explained that the current draft Regulations are the first of three instruments dealing with legislation on wine:
“The second SI is the Wine (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024. It is being made under the Agriculture Act 2020 and will implement the CPTPP provision relating to ice wine by amending Regulation 2019/33 and will also update wine-making practices in Regulation 2019/934. Scotland and Wales are making equivalent instruments to the same timescale. In relation to the English SI, we expect to lay that before Parliament shortly. It is intended that the instruments will come into force on 15th July 2024 to fit in with the coming into force of the UK’s accession to CPTPP. The law in England, Scotland and Wales in relation to ice wine and the reform of wine-making practices will align.”
The third SI will use powers in the [Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023] to revoke wine REUL and consolidate/replace it with one SI with the intention of making further reforms and making wine law more accessible. The exact coverage of that SI is being determined. It will contain devolved provisions in relation to England and Wales and will incorporate the reforms made to devolved legislation by the Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023 […]. It is expected to come into force in early 2025. [UK Internal Market] will apply in relation to wines affected by the reforms moving from England and Wales to be marketed in Scotland.”
13.We note that the Department plans to lay a further instrument to reform the legislation relating to wine more generally which will produce some alignment between England and Wales, but not Scotland. We remain deeply concerned, however, about the lack of a uniform approach and level playing field across GB and about the way in which the Department has introduced and promoted this instrument: Defra failed to explain in the Explanatory Memorandum the opposition of both the Welsh and Scottish Governments to the proposed changes, it has made no assessment of the possible confusion these changes may cause within the GB internal wine market, it did not mention future proposals to establish an agreed GB legislative framework as part of the ratification of the CPTPP, and it has not offered any conclusive evidence to justify proceeding with this instrument at this time when it intends to make further changes and consolidate wine legislation in early 2025. The House may wish to press the Minister on these issues.
1 Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, ‘Consultation on smarter regulation: wine reforms Summary and Government response’ (13 October 2023): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/652963c96972600014ccf812/REUL-wine-consultation-summary-of-responses.pdf [accessed 13 November 2023].