Eckhoff Gerrard: Wine Makers Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Eckhoff Gerrard: Wine Makers Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:4366] 
GERRARD ECKHOFF (ACT NZ) 
: 
 I want to make the astounding revelation to the Committee that clause 148 of course follows clause 147 which for the benefit of some members might be an interesting revelation. Clause 147 is a very important part of the bill because it is about the availability of information. I will not dwell on that but I think it needs to be emphasised that the availability of information to winegrowers and exporters—the people who want to get out there and do the job of selling our product to the world—is very very important. The access requirements for overseas markets are to be made available for inspection “free of charge or for purchase at reasonable cost’’ I note. That is quite contradictory but it is a very important clause. 
We come then to clause 148 and I note that new section 31(1)(h) which is inserted by that clause states “prescribing the information or other matters that must be specified”.There are some matters of concern relating to that provision. It is possibly not known to many members that some wines may well contain fish extracts. Fish extract is used to fine the wine—to take all the cloudy particles out of it. Will we demand of our winegrowers in this country that when people are enjoying a glass of wine in Spain or New York and they turn the bottle round to read the label they can read that it “May contain fish extracts”? That will totally muck up if I can put it that way the experience of—[ 
Interruption 
] Well it is. It is a very important part. Have we clarified just exactly what will be on the label and what will not? If the department requires such explicit information then I have a real problem. I do not believe for one moment that it is our intention to put on a label details that may well upset the experience—and it is a real experience—of enjoying a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon or whatever from New Zealand because of the sort of information that is required on labels. That is a matter the ministry needs to clarify. 
I make the point as well that not very long ago there was a degree of panic within the wine industry when it demanded the removal of Chilean wine off the shelves because of a product called sorbitol. Sorbitol was not listed on the label but we do drink it constantly—for example when we have a bottle of Diet Coke. Sorbitol is just an artificial sweetener. But because there was a real problem with I think the Austrian industry adding antifreeze for goodness’ sake to its wine resulting in people dying that was seen by the New Zealand industry at that time as a reason to ensure that labels listed everything that was in products and that anything not listed on labels but in products should be included. The product sorbitol was used as the reason to remove Chilean wine which is perfectly fine—in fact it is of outstanding quality—from the shelves. We are not exactly squeaky clean in terms of these non - tariff trade barriers in our own backyard. It is very important to note that. 
I am emphasising this point to ensure that those in the ministry do not get overly carried away by this labelling requirement. It does have importance in terms of whether product comes from Central Otago or Gisborne and of ensuring that it is true to type—for example a Riesling or a Chardonnay. But there are hugely creative people within our wine industry so if we can come up with better ways of blending wines or ways of grafting grapes that perhaps are quite different from those in other countries do we need to constrain ourselves just to meet some European requirement? I suspect that because people in the wine industry will read this bill and see the requirements it might constrain some of the more creative and innovative members of this wonderful little industry that we are developing. It is also worth reflecting that our wine industry is a mere 20 years old. It is still in its infancy and still evolving. To put prescriptive regulation around this industry at this time is not appropriate.