G/TBT/W/561  
 
22 November 2018  
(18-7352) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
BRAZIL — TECHNICAL R EGULATION 14, 8 FEBR UARY 2018, TO SET TH E ADDITIONAL 
OFFICIAL IDENTITY, Q UALITY STANDARDS FOR  WINE AND DERIVATIVE S OF GRAPE  
AND WINE PRODUCTS AS  WELL AS THE REQUIRE MENTS TO BE ACQUAINT ED AND 
TECHNICAL REGULATION  NO. 48, 31 AUGUST 2 018 PUBLISHE D IN THE OFFICIAL 
GAZETTE ON 10  SEPTEMBER 2018  
STATEMENT BY BRAZIL TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
14 AND 15  NOVEMBER  2018 
The following communication, dated 19 November 2018 , is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of  Brazil . 
 
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1.  Before addressing the issues raised by the EU on Technical Regulation 14, Brazil would like to 
put this STC in a historical perspective . Although the EU concern has been presented as a new STC, 
it is indeed a continuation of the S TC 470 on the Draft Ordinance 374, from 27 November 2014 
(Portaria SDA/MAPA 374/2014), establishing quality requirements for wine and derivatives of grape 
and wine. This ordinance was notified  by Brazil  as document  G/TBT/BRA/613 . Since its notification, 
STC 470 has been raised 8 times by the European Union. Besides, Brazil and the UE have held many 
bilateral meetings on this matter since 2015 and Brazil has been always ready to provide clarification 
on the steps of the development of the measure and the tec hnical aspects which were orienting its 
drafting process.  
2.  Brazil thus reminds that the process relating to that draft ordinance was conducted in a very 
transparent manner, in accordance with the TBT Agreement principles. All comments from the EU 
have been taken into consideration and individual answers to specific concerns have been delivered. 
Moreover, the Brazilian agricultural authorities held a public hearing from  27 to 29 June 2017, to 
which European authorities and other interested stakeholders have b een individually invited by 
Brazilian authorities. We appreciate the contributions of the EU to that process. Indeed, 6 out of 9 
EU comments have been included in the final version of the text. The European Union itself, in 
previous Committee meetings, ack nowledged that Brazil has made changes in the final version in 
light of EU suggestions.  
3.  The final text was published on 9 March 2018 in the Brazilian Official Gazette, as Technical 
Regulation 14. It was notified to the WTO as document G/TBT/N/BRA/613/Rev.1/Add.1.  It has been 
notified as an addendum to the first notification, in accordance with recommendation G/TBT/26, 
para 43(c) , of 2009 of the Committee. A further modification of the measure, established by 
Technical Regulation N °48, has been notified under document G/TBT/BRA/613/Rev.1/Add.2.  It was 
notified on 11 September. In this sense we would like to request the correction of the description of 
this STC in the Annex of the draft agenda of this Committee (JOB/TBT/270) where it appea rs as "not 
notified ". 
4.  After this brief historical explanation, Brazil would like to take this opportunity to further clarify 
some of the aspects co ncerning Technical Regulation n°14 and Technical Regulation n° 48, which 
complements the latter. They establis h official identity and quality standards for wine and derivatives 
of grape and wine products.  
5.  The development of this legislation has abided by all TBT requirements of transparency: a 60 -day 
public consultation was held on the proposed measure, all comme nts have been taken into account G/TBT/W/561  
 
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  and individual answers to specific concerns have been delivered. Regarding the entering into force 
of the measure, Brazilian authorities have guaranteed a 360 -day period of transition in order to allow 
the industry to adapt . Furthermore, the technical regulation allows for products that were made 
before the entering into force of the new requirements to be traded until they expiration date. As 
such, the Brazil regulation complies with the TBT Agreement requirements to avoid creating 
unnecessary obstacles to trade.  
6.  Concerning the harmonization with international standards, and in accordance with A rticle 2.4 of 
the TBT Agreement, Brazil reiterates that this technical regulation has indeed taken into 
consideration OIV standards  as a basis, whenever they would not prove to be ineffective or 
inappropriate to fulfill our legitimate objectives.  
7.  Brazil believes that neither this Regulation nor any other piece of legislation in the wine sector 
represents an obstacle to trade to expor ts from Europe to our market. We call the attention of this 
Committee that the EU is the biggest seller of wine to Brazil, responding to 41% of Brazil imports, 
ahead of our neighbor Chile, and well ahead of our partners from our own regiona l bloc, Mercosur . 
The exports of wine to Brazil only from the EU, Chile and Mercosur's cou ntries reached the amount 
of USD  370 million in 2017. The openness of our market in this sector proves by itself that Brazil 
does not imposes unnecessary obstacles to trade, and acts  in a transparent manner regarding its 
commitments to developing regulations in this sector.  
8.  Brazil considers that it has taken all the steps required by the TBT Agreement in the development 
of this measure. Always acting in good faith towards its partner s, Brazil provided more than 
reasonable opportunities for taking comments from all stakeholders on board, and also flexibility to 
address possible concerns relating to the timeframes for implementation and adaptation. Indeed, it 
is remarkable the contrast to another STC raised in this Committee, number 345, raised by the USA 
and Argentina and shared by Brazil, where the EU has been taking almost a decade to provide 
answers to applications from third countries on the use of traditional expressions in the win e sector.  
9.  Brazil authorities remain open to clarify any aspects of the changes incurred between Technical 
Regulations  n°14 and n° 48, as well as any doubts regarding the implementation of the requirements 
of identity, quality standards for wine and derivatives of grape and wine products.  
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