Wine Australia's regulatory activities

Wine Australia's process for controlling the export of Australian wine is focussed on auditing both exporters and producers, supplemented by analysis of random samples of their products.

Importance of a compliance regime

There are two major reasons for the establishment of any wine regulatory system:

1. To protect consumers; and
2. To ensure a fair trading environment for producers and exporters.

A robust and enforceable compliance regime is essential for supporting the sector's promotional efforts. A scandal involving the misrepresentation of the provenance or composition of wine would potentially damage Australia's reputation for producing quality wines with truthful labels. Not all wine producing countries share the reputation enjoyed by Australia. It is critical to maintain this competitive advantage.

Australia is increasingly recognised as an abundant source of regionally distinctive wines made from an array of both traditional and recently introduced grape varieties. Maintaing the integrity of region and variety claims has never been more important.