The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries ()
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Wine (Amendment)
(England) Regulations 2024.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. The
regulations were laid before the House on 4 December. The
Government are taking this necessary step to take account of
obligations relating to the marketing of wine in the
comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific
partnership—or the CPTPP, as Members will know it—following the
UK’s signing of the protocol of accession.
The instrument introduces rules governing how products marketed
as ice wine must be produced. Ice wine is a type of dessert wine
produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the
vine. Currently, ice wine is not produced domestically, but it is
imported. Annual global production is very small, but it can
yield high-quality wines that sell at premium prices. Therefore,
it is important to ensure that products marketed as ice wine are
marketed correctly, to support consumers in their choices.
The instrument applies the relevant restriction in England only.
Separate instruments applying to Scotland and Wales are being
made for the purpose of continuity, so that the same restriction
applies across Great Britain and enables CPTPP accession. This
type of imported wine will continue to be able to move from Great
Britain to Northern Ireland via the Northern Ireland retail
movement scheme under the Windsor framework.
The instrument will also update the list of oenological
practices, processes and restrictions that may be used in the
production and conservation of wine in other wine products. The
changes are highly technical in nature and relate, for example,
to the use of discontinuous high-pressure processes, which reduce
yeast contamination in wine and therefore the reliance on
sulphites to preserve wine and help to improve its fermentation.
I am told that reducing sulphites also means that you are less
likely to have a headache the next morning.
The Scottish Government have made the same changes, and the Welsh
Government are in the process of doing so. That will ensure that
producers across Great Britain benefit from the latest
technological developments and winemaking practices.
(Easington) (Lab)
The legislation we are dealing with refers to marketing. In this
post-Brexit period, will these things be marketed by the
pint?
I actually think they will be marketed by the half-bottle—in my
limited experience, dessert wines tend to come in half-bottles.
If the hon. Gentleman reaches for the internet when he makes
these purchases, I am sure there will be more information
there.
The changes before us align with those adopted by the
International Organisation of Vine and Wine since 2009 and
approved by the UK through our membership of that organisation.
The instrument was notified to the World Trade Organisation’s
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, and no comments were
received.
(Wansbeck) (Lab)
Will the Minister give examples of the different oenological
practices introduced by the IOVW? I am a bit stumped by that.
I can help the hon. Gentleman out. The regulations are about
making sure, for consumers who buy ice wine, that the correct
process has been followed, and that includes the grapes being
frozen on the vine. It is possible to create dessert wine by
harvesting the grapes and then freezing them mechanically to
change the sugars so that the wine becomes sweeter. However, ice
wine is produced only as a result of a natural frost while the
grapes are on the vine, and the regulations are about protecting
that process, although we do not use it in the UK, and it is
quite uncommon in Europe as well. They are about protecting this
product so that consumers buying ice wine know that the grapes
have been frozen naturally rather than in a freezer.
Is it ice wine or nice wine?
It is ice wine, but I am told it is also quite nice.
(Hereford and South
Herefordshire) (Con)
I note the decline in standards in explanatory memoranda, in that
my right hon. Friend—who has been a member of the Cabinet—is not
acknowledged as such in the explanatory memorandum; however, I
think that is a matter for his civil servants. Given that we do
not have an ice wine industry in this country, why are we passing
this legislation?
That is a very good question. It is quite simply because the ice
wine brand, as it were, is not currently protected in the UK. In
signing up to CPTPP, an obligation was placed on us to recognise
this product and register it in the UK. Ice wine is mostly made
in Canada, which is a signatory to that agreement. This is about
protecting their ice wine producers’ brand, as it were.
(Dover) (Con)
The Minister is very helpfully explaining this product. Will he
say whether the change will be to the detriment of Eiswein
produced in Germany, which is obviously a more popularly known
product in the UK?
This is about ensuring that UK consumers, when choosing which
wine to purchase, understand the process and the methodology by
which it has been made and can make that choice for themselves. I
commend the regulations to the Committee.4.36pm
(Cambridge) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve once again with you in the Chair, Mr
Gray. I thank the Minister for his exemplary introduction. I had
always pictured him with a pint of bitter in his hand, but
perhaps I will now picture him with an ice wine chaser to go with
it. Let me reassure the Minister and the Whips that, given the
support that the industry has expressed for this SI, and given
that it concerns a very niche product, we do not intend to press
for a vote.
I note the important contribution made by the wine sector to this
country’s economy. The vast majority of wine consumed here—some
99%—is imported. We recognise and accept the need for the rules
inherited from the EU to be updated and streamlined to help the
sector to operate even more efficiently. I appreciate that
efforts have been made through this legislation to bring the UK’s
wine regulations in line with the CPTPP as regards ice wine.
The Minister has explained that the instrument restricts the use
of the term “ice wine” to products made exclusively from grapes
naturally frozen on the vine, as opposed to those made from
frozen grapes. In relation to the CPTPP, as the Minister has told
us, Canada is the major producer of ice wine, but CPTPP’s
progress puts us on a different parliamentary scrutiny and
legislative path. We know that the economic benefits of the
treaty appear to be small. The Government’s impact assessment
indicated that the long-run increase in GDP would be worth only
0.06%.
As with so many of these trade deals, we need to watch with great
care to see whether these small economic benefits are being
achieved at the expense of our environmental or welfare
standards. The Trade and Agriculture Commission report on the
CPTPP notes that the Pesticide Action Network UK has reported
that there are 119 pesticide products not permitted for use in
the UK that are permitted to varying extents by one or more of
the 11 parties to the CPTPP treaty. It needs to be made clear
that the deal does not enable food and wine produced elsewhere to
lower standards to compete unfairly with our own producers. In
this case, of course, we do not have producers. In relation to
unfair competition, the Trade and Agriculture Commission report
on the CPTPP noted:
“This is important, as CPTPP is likely to lead to increased
imports of products that have been produced at lower cost by
using pesticides in…parties that would not be permitted in the
UK.”
The Chair
Order. I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. I think
that what he is saying regarding the CPTPP in general is beyond
the scope of our discussions. We are simply discussing whether or
not these grapes can marketed here under a particular name.
I am grateful, Mr Gray, and I understand the point that you make.
May I point out that our concern is that pesticides could have
been used on vines that produce ice wine? It is about the
changing circumstances for different parties and different
rules.
Will the Minister explain what legislation is planned by the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on wine as a
result of the CPTPP and when we can expect those changes to be
introduced? Having taken heed of your warnings, Mr Gray, I shall
not make the wider points that I was going to make about the
concerns of the wine sector about additional bureaucracy,
administrative burdens and rising costs. I have possibly made
that point without raising those concerns.
A serious point was made by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny
Committee in the House of Lords—the measure was discussed in the
other place last night—about parallel legislation in Scotland and
Wales. The Committee pointed out that Northern Ireland would be
subject to the different rules that apply in the EU. Given that
we had a lengthy discussion in the Chamber on Monday evening
about the export of live animals for slaughter and the
implications for Northern Ireland, I suspect the Minister hopes
that members of the Democratic Unionist party are not ardent ice
wine drinkers, but is he completely satisfied that there will be
no impediments to the movement of ice wine products between
Northern Ireland and Great Britain? For instance, does he expect
that the labelling of ice wine will be completely consistent
across the UK? I leave him with that thought.
4.41pm
I shall address that final point first. The reforms apply only to
England, Wales and Scotland, but they are progressing their own
statutory instruments. There are no producers of ice wine in
Northern Ireland, but imported ice wine can move from Great
Britain via the Northern Ireland retail movement scheme and be
sold in Northern Ireland, so there will be no restrictions
there.
I am grateful to hon. Members and the shadow Minister for their
support. I do not want to be dragged into a debate on CPTPP—that
is not the purpose of our discussions—but there are upsides to
the agreement. In fact, only last week we signed an £18-million
deal with Mexico to export pork offal, which is of great benefit
to the UK economies. When it comes to pesticides and matters such
as lowering the standards of imported products we are very much
aware of the need to defend against that. In fact, sanitary and
phytosanitary rules are relevant, and the ability of colleagues
to challenge some of those things is something that we defend
vigorously as well.
This is a good move forward, and it assists with getting the
CPTPP agreement into place.
Question put and agreed to.
