New EU rules for Organic Wine Jean-François Hulot Head of Unit DG AGRI/H3 Nuremberg, 16 February 2012

1. Why we need organic wine rules?

No organic wine in EU No rules for wine-making since 1991 EU-Regulation for plant production Grapes grown organically wine made of organic grapes Situation up to now: Vin issu de raisins cultivés en agriculture biologique

Organic production ~ 4.7 % of EU agriculture area ~ 1.5% of EU wine growing area Rapidly increasing market demand Imports from: Third country list: ARG, AUS, NZ import authorisations: Chile, South-Africa, US, Croatia, TR, Tunisia, Uruguay Imports to: DE,FI,FR,BE Organic grape production area in hectare, ESTAT

European Action Plan 2004 Political orientation paper aims to implement concrete measures (21 Actions) Action 10: Complete and further harmonise the standards for organic agriculture by considering whether to establish specific standards for organic wines ;

The EU legal framework EU regulation = uniform single standard for all operators - national rules forbidden Private standards may go beyond

From 1 January 2009: Council Regulation 834/2007 replaces old Regulation 2092/91 Commission Regulation 889/2008 for production, labelling and control Commission Regulation 1235/2008 for imports Logo: from 1 July 2010 The EU organic Regulation

The EU legal framework CR 834/2007 Com R 889/2008 Com R 1235/2008 Guidance Scope, objectives, principles and general rules specific rules on production: Plants Livestock Food Feed Yeast Aquaculture detailed rules on imports detailed rules on labelling detailed rules on control GuidelinesWorking document controls Logo: user manual

Scope: agricultural products and food including wine Objectives and principles Flexibility – local production Labelling: > 95% organic + mandatory EU-logo + code number + indication of place of farming Risk-based control (OFFC) relevant for wine-making: Recital 7: processed food, including wine Article 19: production rules for processed food Article 21: criteria for substances in processing Article 38: new implementing rules Council Regulation 834/2007

Detailed plant and animal production rules, labelling, control Processing (Article 26): good manufacturing practices critical processing steps operations and storing separated by time or place Use of substances in processing (Article 27(1)): reference to Annex VIII - food additives and processing aids ….can be used, with the exception of wine Commission Regulation 889/2008

2. The new rules organic wine:

Rules for wine-making based on: Legal basis: Council Reg. 834/2007 Amending Regulation of Commission Reg. 889/2008 Definition of organic wine Will apply on top of horizontal Community legislation: Food/wine labelling Wine market organisation

Main elements of the new rules New Chapter 3a: 1.Scope 2.Oenological practices 3.Positive list of substances 4.Flexibility rules 5.Transition rules on labelling

Oenological practices –Based on Reg. 606/2009 for oenological practices (status of !) –Restrictions Heat treatment < 70°C Filtration > 0.2μm –Forbidden Electrodialyses Cryo-concentration Cation exchangers Physical elimination of SO 2 Partial dealcoholisation –Revision clause – 2015 Reverse osmosis Ion exchange resin Heat treatment

Positive list of substances New Annex VIIIa: 44 substances (out of 68 in CMO wine) permitted No differentiation between additives and processing aids Preferably organic raw materials (yeast, gelatine, protein,..) Enrichment: only organic products (sugar, must) Substances not authorised in the positive list: Ammonium bisulphite, betaglucanase, malic acid, chitosan, calcium tartrate, chitin-glucan, polyvinylimidazole,polyvinylpolpyrrolidone, lysozyme, potassium ferrocyanide, calcium phytate, dimethylcarbonate, urease, carboxymethylcellulose,calcium alginate

Sulphur dioxide Lower max. level of SO 2 mg/l for organic wines than authorised in CMO wine: Wine with residual sugar content < 2 grammes/litre: 100 mg / l for red wine 150 mg / l for white wine Other wines: minus 30 mg / l as from conventional wine level Flexibility provision: Exceptional climatic conditions

Flexibility Article 47: Member States may grant to increase SO 2 up to conventional level for a given harvest year if: exceptional climatic conditions in a specific geographical area, deteriorate sanitary status of organic grapes by severe bacterial attacks or fungal attacks, operators need to record, and authorising Member State need to inform Member States and Commission.

Transition Article 95(10a): for products of wine sector current practice expires on 31 July 2012 But: Stocks of wines produced until 31 July 2012 may be sold until stocks are exhausted: wine made of organic grapes no EU-organic-logo private organic logos allowed specific recording obligations

3. How we did the new rules

Decision making Commission initiates and prepares working document based on research, inputs from technical experts Discussion with Member States in Standing Committee for organic farming (SCOF) Stakeholders in Advisory group Internal consultation (other units, DGs) TBT consultation (technical barrier to trade – WTO) SCOF agrees by qualified majority (8 February 2012: 296 out of 345 votes) Commission colleges adopt draft regulation

from Wine made of organic grapes Organic wine EU logo for harvest /20108/ EAP ORWINE Working paper Legal proposal New Regulation

Still to be done - Final translations - Adoption by the Commission - Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union Applicable from 1 August 2012

EU-organic-logo is not exclusive: national and private labels may be added Organic Wine BE-BIO-005 EU/non-EU Agriculture 23 Labelling as off 1 August 2012

Thank you for your attention ! For more information visit: