Georgian Wine - National Wine Agency

With the Agrarian Issues Committee initiative, meeting with  representatives of LEPL National Wine Agency and wine-producer companies was organized today, which was dedicated to the development tendency of  viticulture and wine-making field.

The members of the meeting held in the third pavilion of Expo Georgia basically discussed the amendments to The Law of Georgia on Vine and Wine, wine export progress and the ongoing projects in the sector.

The amendments to The Law of Vine and Wine have  already been initiated in the Parliament and will be discussed at the Committee this week. Legislators decided to meet the representatives of the sector before the draft law discussion in the Parliament to listen their positions about the amendment project once again and discuss their opinions about current actual issues.

Giorgi Samanishvili, the head of National Wine Agency, spoke about the active development of the sector and stated, that export dynamic has significantly grown within the recent years. This fact is reflected in the data of the first quarter, 2017, according to which, over 14 million bottles of wine have been exported from Georgia to 38 countries worldwide, that is 85% higher than the similar data of the last year. It is significant, that today, Georgia is not depended on one market only and new markets are  being covered, however, as the head of the Agency explains, there still are some problems. He also says, that private sector and government positions about the draft law  should be agreed.

As the head of Agrarian Issues Committee, Otar Danelia stated, export growth trends are complimentary, the interesting fact is, that China has became the second largest exporter country in a short time, however,  export progress causes the challenges as well, new problems appear and the main thing in this process is to select the right ways of solutions to the problems. “As for market diversification, the results are quite rapid and successful. It is important, that we are not depended on one, or two markets any more, as we have been for a long time. As the head of Georgia-China Friendship Parliamentary Group, I promise, that I will continue to be the envoy of wine of Georgia  in China and it will help us for further popularization of Georgian wine” - stated Otar Danelia. He also said, that many Georgian Wine Houses are being  opened in China. He called  the wine-makers for maximal activity and promised his promotion in the processes.

The members of the meeting were also harangued by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Georgia - Giorgi Khizanishvili, the First Deputy Chairman of Agrarian Issue Committee – Gela Samkharauli, The first sitting of the Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee – Giorgi Bregadze. They stated, that today, wine-making and viticultural sector faces great challenges, export is progressing, however, even more effort is needed to develop the existing markets and cover new ones, as the country has all the opportunities and bases for it.

Next, Giorgi Samanishvili spoke about the project of amendment to the Law of Vine and Wine. As he stated, the policy and approach of the Law adopted in 1998 will stay unchanged, this is just an update of the Law which should respond to the new challenges. It is remarkable, that not even a little change has been made in the Law since 2002, though, number of terms have to be updated. According to Giorgi Samanishvili, the terms will be harmonized with The Law of  European Union and  International Organization of Vine and Wine; Significant changes were made in the section of wine classification – there are new definitions of Qvevri wine and orange wine; changes will be made in the labeling rules; certification becomes mandatory and etc.

The authors of the draft law shared the  wine-makers\' proposal on  prohibition the export of wine in pour.

As mentioned at the meeting,  the statistics show, that little amount of wine in pore is exported and then, this wine is bottled in high amount in the neighboring countries. For instance, in 2016, only  512 thousand liters of wine in pore was exported from Georgia, and after bottling,  the amount of this wine reached almost 15-20 times more. Georgia has no control over the produced amount of the exported wine in pore. It has the straight affect on Georgian wine-making and export potential. Everybody agreed, that prohibition of wine in pore export at the legislative level is inevitable.

A group of wine-makers proposed, that tasting should be extended to each export wine. Up to date, it was mandatory only for appellation wines. Inspection control tightening and tasting every wine before export is the prerequisite for not exporting  diseased wine from Georgia. Rules of the game should be the same for everyone and this issue should have been solved once and for ever. In the producers\' opinion, it will increase the quality, popularity and sales of Georgian wine.

As Otar Danelia stated, legislative base has to be adequate to the updates developed in practice and the proposed draft law is exactly for this purpose – general standards will be set and everyone will be in the same conditions.

“Prohibition of wine in pore is demanded from wine-makers themselves. The agreement  has been  achieved principally, accordingly, it will be reflected at the legislative level. It was the wine-makers\' initiative and the Committee considers it really agreeable. We do our best for Georgian product to have the final image and not export as semi-product. So, we agree with this changes” - stated Otar Danelia after the meeting.

As the head of Agrarian Issues Committee explained, the agreement is also achieved on the wine tasting issues: “Wines should be tasted by all means. Qvevri wine is produced by  major wine-makers, as well as by small enterprises, in accordance, the rules have to be the same for all – we can not have the double standard, and of course we will not make compromise  at the expense of quality”.

As Otar Danelia estimated, the meeting was very fruitful, all the important issues had been discussed and what is the meaningful, there is a complete consensus regarding the legislative amendments.

“We have implemented so many changes in practice, that the Law has got  out of date, is not responding the updates, so the Law has to be more contemporary. We have new sales markets, that gives us the opportunity of further progress of wine export and it needs the flexibility at the legislative level reflected in the draft law. It also oversees the development of international and European standards and best practices, that will promote Georgian wine competitiveness at most” - stated Otar Danelia.