Three columns penned for Harpers Wine and Spirit Weekly have somehow managed to retain much of their currency and can be used as brief introductions to the main issues in international wine trade:

• There's no point in whining (25 May 2001) deals with patterns in global exchanges. No new major shift to report here, only a continuation of the gentle drift from its Mediterranean cradle to the Pacific Basin.
• Geographical name calling (30 March 2001) illustrates the difficulties in finding truly fair solutions to disputes over intellectual property rights - conflicting geographical indications in this case. Click the WTO and WIPO links below for more information on GIs.
• Maturing, stronger bodies (27 April 2001) talks about the infamous surplus issue and other key trade topics that are subject to rules negotiated in Geneva (at the WTO) and elsewhere: Subsidies, oenological practices and labelling.

Overproduction was not just an accepted fixture of Europe's old-style interventionism that attempted to stabilise producers' incomes by supporting wine prices. The surpluses which started to creep over Australia in the early noughties were pretty much expected (see The Economist's Wine Survey below). They only evaporated with the help of a few consecutive droughts.

In some regions, climatic conditions fluctuate so widely that aiming to smooth out variations in wine prices is really worthwhile. This is best achieved via sophisticated price contracts and wine futures happen to be one of them. The link to futures provides a few definitions and illustrations of this powerful (and therefore controversial) financial instrument.

Health-taxation-temperance: These themes are intimately linked and the wolves never out of sight. Britain's strategy towards moderate drinking and the WHO's global war on alcohol abuse will help to understand why many executives are concerned with the future of their industry.

The notion of Comparative Advantage plays such a pivotal role in international trade and arouses such passions - it is not only counterintuitive but also imposes change and hardship on specific groups whilst passing the (greater) benefits to other sectors and to consumers at large - that it is worth clarification. The short 'companion bibliography on wine economics' (above) puts it in historical perspective and proposes a link to a brilliant illustration that brings this vital concept into your own backyard.
 

THE ECONOMIST's Wine Survey

Globalisation, industry consolidation, branding and the clashing views between the Old and the New World, are all dealt with in a most accessible fashion by coffee-cum-chocolate addict Gideon Rachman in a rare, insightful Christmas 1999 survey which The Economist keeps at its subscribers' fingertips.

Still very much to the point after all this time, this compelling piece of research came 16 years after the magazine aired its concern over massive wine surpluses (Overflow - The World's Wine Trade, penned by Nicholas Faith, Christmas 1983). Plus ça change ...

The 1999 survey is now deemed 'premium content' and free access has been restricted to subscribers, but both surveys should be freely available for consultation in your local library.
 

Source

Contents

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

WTO - International Trade Topics

A wealth of information on ongoing trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.

WTO - Geographical Indications (TRIPS)

The World Trade Organisation's specific page on Geographical Indications, part of the TRIPS agreement

WIPO - Geographical Indications

The World Intellectual Property's own page on Geographical Indications provides a few handy definitions. WIPO is the WTO's official partner with respect to TRIPS.

Int. Portal on Food Safety, Animal Plant and Health (SPS)

The international organisations' common portal on the SPS agreement will give you all the authorized information on the Codex Alimentarius (permitted substances in wine) and on traceability initiatives.

FAOSTAT

A very handy facility for viewing and downloading aggregate wine trade figures. The site has been revamped in 2007 and now also offers a neat, graphical view of any country's flows (just click the 'detailed trade flows' tab once you are there). 

OIV

The world's largest intergovernmental body for wine offers a list of recommendations, e.g. on standards for oenological practices, as well as some useful statistics.

NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

EU Commission - wine

The European Union's 'wine page' (so-to-speak) will lead you through the amazing Common Market Organisation for Wine - legislation and statistics.

Wine Institute of California

The California (US) wine industry's main trade association offers you a host of useful and reliable statistics on the American wine market, plus a few other international data.

Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultra (INV)

The country's administrative body for the wine industry provides an outstanding selection of the latest data, incl. separate figures for trade with MERCOSUR - in Spanish.

SAF Wine Industry Statistics

The place to click if you want a wide range of official statistics on the South-African wine industry, from acreage to export.

Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation

The official site of the Oz industry offers excellent statistics. May have to grope a little to find free data.

New Zealand Wines Online

New Zealand wine industry's official and open website is packed with useful data stretching back to 1990.