G/TBT/W/676  
23 July 2019 
(19-4890) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
URUGUAY - ANALYSIS OF IMPORTED PRODUCTS - RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF  
THE NATIONAL GRAPE -GROWING AND WINE PRODUCTION INSTITUTE  
(INAVI) OF 14 FEBRUARY 2019.  
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF INAVI POSTPONING IMPLEMENTATION UNTIL  
1 MAY 2019 - EXOGENOUS WATER IN WINE  
STATEMENT BY URUGUAY TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE  
20 AND 21 JUNE 2019  
The following communication, dated 2 2 July 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of Uruguay . 
 
_______________  
 
 
1.  Uruguay wishes to  thank the  Australia,  Chile, New Zealand,  South Africa and the  United States 
for their interest regarding the resolution of  14 February  2019 of the National Grape -Growing and 
Wine Production Institute (INAVI), establishing the requirement for a certificate or evidence  of the 
absence of exogenous water in wines imported from countries whose regulations allow , in generic 
terms,  a percentage of water added to wine.  
2.  In this regard, it should be  noted that after the first notification of the original INAVI resolution, 
published on  14 March  2019, the deadline for submitting comments was extended until 
15 May 2019, thereby granting a period of more than 60 days, in line wit h the Committee's relevant 
recommendations and usual practice . The entry  into force of the measure was postponed until 
1 June 2019, namely three months after the originally established date . All the above was in 
consideration of the comments and requests o f WTO Members.  
3.  Firstly, it should be emphasized that in Uruguay it is prohibited to incorporate exogenous water 
in wine ( i.e. water that does not come from the grape but is added to the product at some  stage of 
the production process), with the use of water only being allowed to dilute products for oenological 
purposes . 
4.  This relates to the definition of wine recognized by Uruguay  since the early 20th century – when 
Law No. 2856 of 1 7 July 1903 was enacted  –, as "the exclusive product of fermentation of must 
originating from the juice of fresh grapes, which during fermentation may be subjected to any of the 
corrective methods deter mined by oenology with the sole purpose of improving quality as a result 
of special harvesting conditions".  
5.  Uruguay  observes the oenological practices approved by the International Organisation of Vine 
and Wine ( OIV) and permits them, in the knowledge that  some of them require dilution with water . 
But this does not justify  establishing a general tolerance, without conside ring whether  or not such 
practices have been implemented  in specific case s. Oenological  practices such  as hydration of yeast 
or dilution o f products , and also processes  for the washing of basins,  even when they use water  in 
their application, do not justify  a generalized percentage of tolerance, given that the water used is 
insignificant  and does not modify  the database  used as a reference for the analytical values obtained 
by mass spectrometry equipment , the definition of which has formed  the basis of the official 
OIV method  for establishing  the origin  of water in wine since 1996 and was made official in Uruguay 
in 2009 . This level would be within the variability of the m ethod – in other words, within normal 
dispers al. Hence there is no need to establish  generalized tolerance percentages for water, since 
these could favour situations involving adulteration.  G/TBT/W/676  
- 2 - 
  6.  Accordingly, it should be emphasized  that the OIV regulations make no reference to tolerances . 
Hence the addition of water to wine without the purpose of dissolving a  product  for oenological use 
cannot be considered an accepted  oenological  practice.  
7.  In view of the fact that local producers are not authorize d to add exogenous water to national 
wines, and are otherwise liable to fine s or confiscations , this practice cannot be permitted for 
imported wines, since this would imply giving more favourable  treatment  to non -national s compared 
with nationals . In this regard, the spirit of the regulations  is to ensure the absence  of exogenous 
water in any percentage  for the consumer , preventing practices that can be misleading and avoiding 
the creation of unjusti fied obstacles to trade.  
8.  Moreover , the certification requirement applies fairly to exporters from all countries that allow 
the use of exogenous water , whatever its percentage, in a generic form  in their legislation , since the 
aim is to avoid discriminat ing between Members where similar conditions prevail.  
9.  In this regard, it should be noted that it has been decided that the proof of  the absence  of 
exogenous  water  required of exporting countries can be incorporated into certificates  of standard  
analysis required for the importation of wine into our country.  
10.  With regard to the scope of the resolution , this refers only to grape and wine products . Under no 
circumstanc es should it be interpreted as covering other alcoholic beverages as defined by ISO 
Code 67.160.10.  
11.  Lastly, regard ing the proposals  connected with  Uruguay's participation in the World Wine Trad e 
Group  (WWTG), which is unrelated to the work of this Committee, Uruguay has kept and will continue 
to keep a dialogue  open with members of the Group th rough the appropriate channels.  
 
__________