On 10 April in Brussels, the Director General of the OIV participated in the Conference of the International Federation of Wines and Spirits (FIVS).
The annual meeting was dedicated this year to major issues for the vitivinicultural sector, within an uncertain and ever-evolving international context.
A number of workshops provided opportunities to address various current topics: environmental issues, consumer behaviour and expectations, and the environmental and social responsibility of companies.
Jean-Marie Aurand, as part of the introduction to the conference, gave a presentation of the major trends observed in the vitivinicultural sector at a global level and underlined the main challenges for the future in economic, societal and environmental terms. He also highlighted the role of the OIV in accompanying the vitivinicultural sector through these substantial changes.
The Director General of the OIV also praised the quality of the relationship between the two organisations, emphasising the involvement of industry representatives in the work of the OIV and their consistently constructive contribution to collective expertise thanks to FIVS' status as an observer.
Monika Christmann presented the OIV, its objectives, its role and statistical data on the current state of the global viticultural market.
A meeting of the OIV Russian National Liaison Committee, which was open to the public, was also held as part of this conference. This meeting generated tremendous interest from participants and players in the field. During the meeting, Tatiana Svinartchuk presented the Organisation's operating procedures as well as the main regulatory documents discussed and developed by the OIV.
Issues of international cooperation in the development and application of standards of production and commercialisation of wine and other international vitivinicultural products were presented and discussed. More specifically, emphasis was placed upon the importance of the application of international standards in national regulations; this is in order to avoid potential problems of compliance for local producers and also commercial concerns with regard to importers and exporters.
The training of specialists in oenology and viticulture was seen as a key point. The President of the OIV highlighted the importance of international student exchange programmes.
Following the conference, visits to Russian vineyards (Abrau-Durso, Vedernikov, Usadba Divnomorskoye, Elbuzd, Lefkadiya) were organised for the OIV representatives and conference participants. The very high technical level and excellent quality of the wines were praised by the OIV President.
This visit should also make it possible to foster the participation of the Russian delegation in the work of the OIV.
Remarkably well organised by the Director General of the Council, Gabriel Padilla Maya, this trip allowed Jean-Marie Aurand to present the OIV and its missions to the professional leaders of the Mexican wine sector, a few months after Mexico joined the Organisation and to visit the country's main wine-producing regions: Sonora, Parras, Coahuila, Querétaro, Baja California, Valle de Guadalupe and Valle de Santo Tomás.
During a meeting where a bill to determine the general framework of State intervention to support the wine sector was presented to the Senate in order to develop the national wine industry, and in the presence of representatives of governors and the CMV, the Director General of the OIV stressed the importance of such an initiative that will, as in the case of many other countries, facilitate the growth of Mexican wine production.
Before the representatives of producers of table and dried grapes, Jean-Marie Aurand presented the latest study of the OIV, carried out jointly with the FAO, on the global landscape of table grapes and raisins, highlighting the opportunities for Mexican producers.
With a production of 260,000 tonnes of table grapes per year, an increase of 25% since the year 2000 with more than 60% exported, Mexico is becoming a significant player on the world market. Its production is well rewarded as it arrives on the European market out of season (May to July).
As for dried grapes, since 2000, production has increased by 225% to reach 14,000 tonnes in 2015.
Driven by strong domestic demand (an annual increase in consumption of 12% for the last 10 years), wine production has experienced remarkable growth. A large number of wine companies established in 11 Mexican states produce nearly 200,000 hectolitres of a wide variety of high-quality wine every year.
The development and modernisation of the sector is driven collectively by the CMV with the government's support.
During a visit to the Autonomous University of Baja California, which organises the Ensenada Tierra del Vino international wine competition, the promoters expressed their wish to request the patronage of the OIV for their next events.
At a meeting chaired by the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Jorge Armando Narváez Narváez, also delegated to the OIV, Jean-Marie Aurand presented the main trends in the global wine market to senior figures in the wine sector as well as key issues for the future, highlighting the opportunities for Mexico. The Director General, like the Undersecretary of Agriculture, welcomed Mexico's accession to the OIV, a very important decision for the future of Mexican viticulture. He praised the active role of Mexican experts in the OIV's work, supported by the CMV and encouraged by the ministry by means of the recently-created Inter-institutional Wine Committee.
Lastly, the Undersecretary of Agriculture announced his country's intention to organise a presentation of Mexican wine at the OIV headquarters in the near future.
On this occasion, Jean-Marie Aurand – after having recalled the main missions of the OIV – gave a panorama of the state of the global vitivinicultural sector, highlighting the major trends and issues for the future.
Within this context, the discussions focused on a certain number of strategic and topical issues:
- the importance of standards, including those which are internationally recognised, in maintaining the essential characteristics of wine and ensuring the fluidity of trade,
- the role of the OIV as an intergovernmental reference organisation on the subject,
- the principles for setting additive limits,
- perspectives with regard to the labelling of ingredients.
Jean-Marie Aurand praised the quality of the collaboration developed over the years between the OIV and Oenoppia, which benefits from OIV observer status. The Oenoppia teams provide recognised expertise within the different expert groups of the Organisation and have been at the origin of several resolutions.
Oenoppia is an association that brings together the main stakeholders in the production of oenological products. Oenoppia members account for almost 90% of oenological products used in the world.
After focusing on sparkling wines in 2014 and rosé in 2015, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) presents a new study about this very important part of the OIV field of expertise, grapes being the fruit crop with the highest total value of production in the world.
The study presents some key facts regarding food use and the nutritional value of the grape family products, as well as time series since 2000 on domestic production, exports and imports, market size, and apparent consumption.
The Director General of the OIV, Jean-Marie Aurand, as well as the deputy Director of the Statistics Division of the FAO, José Rosero Moncayo underlined that this publication is the tangible output of the good and long-standing FAO-OIV cooperation.
