The end of customs duties for European wine imports to Japan?

 

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The European Union and Japan signed a free trade agreement on Thursday 6th July, which includes the abolition of customs duties on French wine imports to Japan. A very promising agreement for the sector.

Last Thursday at the Viticulture Congress, European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan announced that “The European Union and Japan today signed a free trade agreement, which is extremely positive for our food sector. And more particularly for wines, which will be imported without tariffs “. This agreement will be effective from 2018 and is expected to save €145 million for European wine sector. In addition, Japan will accept 205 PDO (Protected Designations of Origin), of which about 130 are for wine and spirits. “This is the first time that the European model of Geographical Indications has been fully accepted in such a trade agreement,” said Phil Hogan. Of these 205 European indications originally included, 28 concern French wines.

Phil Hogan also spoke about the other free trade agreements, which are being negotiated with Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, Vietnam and even China. These agreements are currently on the right track and could be completed by next year. Evidently, this represents very positive development perspectives for European wine sector that will be on an equal footing with Chilean wine on this market. The latter has been benefiting from free trade agreements with Japan and China, respectively, since 2007 and 2005, which naturally gave it a competitive advantage. Since 2015, Chilean wines has even stolen French wines’ first place in the consumption of imported wines on the Japanese market.

This is excellent news for the wine industry, but also for iDealwine, strengthening its position on the Japanese market. Japanese are savvy connoisseurs, with a strong appeal for the types of wine, we sell at auction: mature Bordeaux, fine Burgundy and hidden gems from lesser regions!

 

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