Updated 12 March 2021
A project is underway to develop a publicly accessible Wine Label Intellectual Property Directory for exported Australian wine.
Australian Grape & Wine (AGW) identified the need to establish the Directory as a key step in strengthening protection for Australian wine labels against fraudulent activity. Wine Australia has worked with AGW and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to prepare legislative changes to the Wine Australia Act 2013 and the Wine Australia Regulations 2018.
The amending bill was passed by the Federal Parliament in December 2020 to allow Wine Australia to establish and maintain a public facing, online database of all Australian wine labels for export.
The changes will further strengthen our wine export regulatory system by preventing the export of copycat labelled wines. Wine Australia, through an extensive consultation process, has established a reference group of representatives from the wine sector to oversee the implementation of the system.
Once the Label Directory is live, exporters will be required to upload copies of their labels to WALAS prior to submitting a shipping application. As part of the shipping application, exporters will need to make a declaration that the images provided to Wine Australia for the directory reflect the actual labels on the wines in the shipment.
Brand owners will be able to search the directory via the Export Label Image Search System (ELISS) to identify potential breaches of their intellectual property rights, and the public will be able to verify whether the Australian wines they consume overseas originated in Australia.
The Label Directory is expected to be operational by mid 2021. The project is funded by the Australian Government’s $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package (the $50m Package).
More information is available here.