O'Connor Damien: Wine Makers Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
O'Connor Damien: Wine Makers Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4518] 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of State) 
: 
 I move  
That the Wine Makers Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. This bill was introduced into the House on 14 October 2002 as Part 5 of the Wine Bill which had its first reading on 17 October 2002 and which was referred to the Primary Production Committee on that same day. The select committee divided Part 5 out of the Wine Bill and reported it back to the House on 2 December 2002 as the Wine Makers Amendment Bill 2002. 
New Zealand’s wine industry is a highly knowledgable high-value added-growth industry. Its competitive edge is based on two unique New Zealand attributes: one is physical—our soil and our climate—and the other is Kiwi innovation. It is an industry that contributes to the identification overseas of New Zealand as a producer of products of sophistication and excellence. The amendments in this bill reinforce the current export regime for grape wine through providing for the Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to notify the industry of overseas market access requirements and provide official assurances. The bill also provides for regulations to be made to impose duties on winemakers and exporters so that they comply with the notified overseas market access requirements. It also provides a system for the provision of official assurances. 
The amendments are a truncated form of the export provisions in the Wine Bill and are a temporary measure. The export and supporting provisions of the Wine Bill are necessary for the longer term because this bill does not introduce the compliance regime associated with New Zealand wine standards under the Wine Bill which would further reinforce and support the export requirements. Indeed the Wine Makers Amendment Bill is intended to be replaced by the export and supporting provisions of the Wine Bill which is intended to be passed later this year. 
The need to press forward with those particular provisions from the more comprehensive Wine Bill arose from the passage of a European Union regulation last year which created commercial uncertainty for our exports. That regulation requires other countries that export wine to the European Union such as New Zealand to regulate conditions as to the use of statements commonly made on wine labels such as “vintage” “variety” and traditional terms. It is not clear how that regulation will be implemented. 
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority also provides official assurances to facilitate the export of wine to the European Union. Those issues are not currently provided for in the Wine Makers Amendment Bill and New Zealand’s current official assurance system for wine exports is administrative. New Zealand wine might therefore face import restrictions from the date that the European Union regulation first applies to imports. That regulation was to apply to wine imported into the European Union from 1 January 2003 but as a result of representations by New Zealand and other countries the European Union has deferred its application of the regulation to 1 August 2003. However as the Wine Bill is not scheduled to commence until 1 January 2004 a 5-month gap remains and passage of this shorter bill is still necessary. 
I believe this bill deserves the support of this House as it is aimed at supporting our wine industry by facilitating its exports. I thank the officials for their efforts in bringing all this information together and I commend this bill to the House.