AgWired

A fine wine sometimes needs some time. And that’s the way our USTR, Rob Portman looks at the U.S./EU Wine Accord. It looks like we’ve reached an agreement, sort of. At least a beginning of an agreement. Actually a Wine Accord. It only took 20 years to get this far.

From the EU Directorate-General For Agriculture & Rural Development:

The European Union and the United States today in London signed a bilateral wine accord which will bring major benefits for EU wine producers. The agreement, which was approved by EU agriculture ministers in December 2005, follows 20 years of negotiation. It will help EU winemakers to build on their current success in the US, which is by far the EU’s largest export market. Annual EU wine exports to the US are worth more than 2 billion euros, around 40 percent of EU exports in terms of value. This agreement provides a clear demonstration that the US and the EU can resolve important and complex issues through bilateral negotiations and both sides are committed to doing so in the future. The EU and US will start talks within 90 days on a more ambitious second-phase agreement.

“I’m delighted that this agreement can finally enter into force, and I raise my glass to the negotiators for their efforts,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. “This deal will facilitate access for EU wines to the lucrative US market, where consumers greatly appreciate the quality and long history behind our wines. In today’s increasingly competitive market place, it is vital that there are no unnecessary and burdensome barriers for our winemakers, who I believe are the best in the world. The EU attaches great importance to the proper protection of its geographical indications abroad.”

From the U. S. Trade Representative:

LONDON – U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel today signed a bilateral agreement on wine-making practices and labeling of wine that will facilitate bilateral trade in wine valued at $2.8 billion annually.

“Like a good wine, this agreement took time. But by helping to establish predictable conditions for bilateral wine trade it is clearly a win-win situation for U.S. and EU winemakers,” said Ambassador Portman. “Wine makers on both sides of the Atlantic have the right to be proud of how tradition, climate and expertise combine to create unique tasting experiences. This agreement honors these differences.”

With the Americans signing more Free Trade agreements all the time, Canada needs to do the same.

A coalition of nine Canadian agricultural commodity groups and companies is encouraging the federal government to put a higher priority on bilateral and regional free trade agreements. The coalition has forwarded a letter to International Trade Minister David Emerson urging him to recognize the importance of free trade agreements.

Canadian Pork Council Executive Director Martin Rice says, although multilateral negotiations through the WTO are important, there is a concern that Canada is not giving sufficient attention to bilateral and regional free trade agreement possibilities. “We certainly want to see the government follow through on those negotiations that are officially started such as Korea, the Central American four, such as the European free trade agreement areas,” said Rice. “Some of these negotiations have been going on for several years and we should get those finished up. On the other hand we would like to see the government focus on the possibility of free trade agreements with China, Japan, some the Andean countries which the US is just recently announcing deals with, India and Morocco.”

While some of these markets are more important to the pork sector, but Morocco would be of more importance to the pulse and the cereals industry. “We’re not suggesting shifting resources away from WTO negotiations but we could find ourselves at a disadvantage relative to our major competitors in terms of having inferior access conditions to some of our major pork export markets,” he said. Rice points out we’ve seen our major competitors, including the U.S, Chile, Brazil and even China enter into a number of free trade agreements.

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