Liquor products - The port and wine drinking South African public will have to get use to new names for these well-loved fortified wines. Why? The pre-2000 agreement between the EC and South Africa prohibits the use of the names “Port” and “Sherry” in the local market from 1 January 2012. Exporters of Port and Sherry has already had to cease using these names since 2000(EC countries) and 2005(rest of the world).
The background to this regrettable state of affairs is shortly the following. South Africa contended in 1999 that ‘port" and sherry’ are not Geographical Indications(“GI’s) as defined by the World Trade Organisation. The reason was that they do not describe any particular region or location in the EC (notably in Spain or Portugal in this case). South Africa contended that the terms were simply vaguely derived from regions in Spain and Portugal. For ‘sherry’ the word is drawn from ‘Jerez’ in Spain, defined as‘Jerez, Xérès and Sherry in the TDCA. For ‘port’ the word is drawn loosely from ‘Oporto’ in Portugal, defined as Oporto/Portwein/Portvin/Portwijn’ in the TDCA. Note that the latter incarnations look decidedly non-Portuguese. Wine aficionados have also pointed out that the products do not even necessarily originate in Jerez or Oporto within the EC. Portuguese port is not produced anywhere near the town of Oporto although it is often aged and blended there. Sherry is made from grapes farmed in the Jerez area, but much of the actual manufacture happens in other Spanish towns. These vagaries are now part oftrade legend, but have no legal value today as ‘port’ and ‘sherry’ have been directly conferred GI status in the text of the TDCA.
Is it all gloomy? It depends on how one looks at the transaction. The sugar with the medicine was in the form of a grant of Euro 15 million for the restructuring of the South African wines and spirits sector and for the marketing and distribution of South African wines and spirits products. This grant was supposed to have been made available in 2000. This grant has not been made available to date. This may give local producers the chance to put pressure on the EC, but we will have to wait and see. The overall answer is thus that ‘yes’ things are fairly gloomy.
It is expected that ‘port’ or ‘sherry’ will still enjoy a dedicated consumer following as they are still excellent quality products at good value for money. Good news for wine collectors- you can buy products with the “sherry” or “port” label as a collector’s item and possibly benefit in the long run when local stocks run out.
For a more detailed version of this topic, you may visit http://www.internationaltradelaw.co.za.
(Article by LiquorWise)
