A new bilateral Wine Agreement and Mutual Recognition Agreement will ensure continued trade flow between Australia and the United Kingdom post-Brexit.
The new Wine Agreement replicates an already existing agreement between Australia and the European Union, which means the UK will accept Australian winemaking practices, and labelling and certification standards.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham said, “these agreements provide assurances to Australian exporters that they will be able to get their goods into the UK post-Brexit whether it be wine, medical devices or automotive parts without additional trade barriers or regulations.
“They are a significant and necessary step in our post-Brexit preparations, where we want to minimise disruptions to trade flows and provide as much certainty to Australian exporters as we can.
“On top of these, we’re committed to securing a comprehensive free trade agreement with the UK as soon as they are in a position to do so, which will even further boost trade flows between our two countries.”
Almost a third of Australia’s exported wine was shipped to the UK last year and according to Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud, this agreement will ‘protect Australia’s geographical indicators so UK consumers know our wine is fair dinkum.’
“We can grow our UK trade under this agreement and put more money in Australian wine grower’s pockets,” he said.
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the Mutual Recognition Agreement would help facilitate trade flows between both countries, guaranteeing continuity of the existing mutual recognition arrangements post-Brexit.
“For Australian businesses, this will eliminate the cost and time of duplicative testing or the need for re-certification when their products arrive in the other country’s market.”
