Wine and spirit drinks

Draft Wine and Spirit Drinks Act

The draft of a new Wine and Spirit Drinks Act aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. to create clear rules that strike a balance between the demand and supply in the wine sector;
2. to limit the increase in the number of new vine plantings;
3. to revise the methods of laboratory analysis;
4. to prevent unfair practices, to achieve transparency and competition on the market in the production of spirit drinks, grapes and wine.

The bodies and institutions that implement policy and have control functions in the sector have been identified. By way of implementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007, certain texts in the Act are related to the system of authorisations for new plantings corresponding to no more than 1 %
of the areas planted with vines as of 31 July of the previous year in order to preserve the quality and prestige of wines produced in the European Union, and authorisations for the replanting of vineyards.
Provisions on the application at national level of the transitional regime for the conversion of planting and replanting rights into authorisations to plant new plantings have also been laid down. The draft Act regulates the status of the persons producing and supplying wine grapes and wine products, fruit wines and vinegar. Their obligations related to the annual submission of declarations and keeping log books have also been laid down. The legal basis has been provided for the establishment and operation of producer organisations and inter-branch organisations in the wine sector. The procedure for keeping a vineyard register, which is public and maintained by the Executive agency for vine and wine (EAVW), and the conditions which the register must meet have also been laid down. The information in the register should be in line with the specific European legislation - Annexes III and IV of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/273 of 11 December 2017 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings, the
vineyard register, accompanying documents and certification, the inward and outward register, compulsory declarations, notifications and publication of notified information, and supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the relevant checks and penalties, amending Commission Regulations (EC) No 555/2008, (EC) No 606/2009 and (EC) No 607/2009 and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 436/2009 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560.

The draft Act sets out the procedure and the rules which the Ministry of Economy must follow in keeping a register of the producers of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, distillate and spirit drinks, and as regards control of the production.
The control bodies and their powers have been determined, and the administrative offence provisions provide for penalties in case of breaches, which are proportionate to the breaches.