In line with the new Strategic Plan 2020-2024, the Director General of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), Pau Roca, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, with the objective of promoting wine tourism at the global level.
The two intergovernmental organisations met on 24 January at the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid, Spain, to sign this agreement in principle, seeking to give impetus to guidelines and concrete actions designed to foster wine tourism.
Pau Roca considers that “this joint work will make it possible to carry out the axes of the Strategic Plan of the OIV and its goals, and at the same time achieve 13 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations”. The OIV Strategic Plan specifically makes reference to the need to “encourage and participate in the development of wine tourism, viticultural landscape and terroirs, highlighting their importance for society”.
We are looking for a person with a strong academic background in data science in order to sustain our team and the experts in the digital objectives of the Strategic Plan.
Find here the job offer
In 1930, in issue no. 24 of the “BULLETIN INTERNATIONAL DU VIN”, the OIV – then the “International Wine Office”, founded on 29 November 1924 – publishes regulations governing the first O.I.V. Awards.
This is a call for applications, firstly, to write text and captions in French or in one of the languages of the OIV “member” countries, and secondly, to illustrate this “promotional leaflet” in support of wine and its health benefits, entitled: “The Truth about Wine”. Candidates are required to indicate the various virtues of drinking wine from “early childhood”: as a “tonic” or “medicinal vehicle in small doses as prescribed by a doctor”. Then they are to specify that, from the age of 10-12, “moderate doses of wine should form part of main meals”. Finally, they are instructed that, for adults, specifically “healthy individuals ... all the reasons in favour of using this beverage should be emphasised”.
The main objectives of this revision – as stated by Brazil – were to prevent deceptive practices and protect consumers, to protect people’s health, and to define requirements regarding the quality and safety of food products.
After its notification to the WTO, this revision of the export regulations raised serious concerns among professionals in the sector. There was still, indeed, uncertainty about whether analytical values for each parameter had to be provided on the exporter’s certificate of analysis for every product being brought onto the Brazilian market.
Operators in the sector were worried about the considerable increase in costs of the analyses required as of 15 December 2019 to export wines to Brazil. A number of countries did not have the capacity to carry out some of these analyses.
Any ambiguity has now been lifted following the publication in the Brazilian Official Journal of Normative Instruction No. 75 of 31 December 2019, which specifies the control procedures and also indicates the official document upon which the implementation of the new measure is to be based (Norma Operacional 01 de 24 de janeiro de 2019). The annex to this standard provides a summary table for each product type with the analytical parameters, their maximum and minimum permitted limits, and the measurement requirements at different control stages.
The OIV Secretariat has drafted a summary note on the cycle of revision of the export regulations for wines and vine-derived products in Brazil [here].
In 2016, he was presented with the OIV Grand Prix Award in recognition of his exceptional work. This tribute to the author of the Dictionnaire encyclopédique des cépages et de leurs synonymes (Encyclopaedic dictionary of vine varieties and their synonyms) symbolises the OIV’s acknowledgement of his contribution to the dissemination of knowledge of the wine sector and the role of ampelography in the development of viticultural sciences.
His astounding memory and scientific knowledge have repeatedly drawn the utmost admiration from numerous researchers, who have been able to access this extraordinary wisdom through his internationally renowned work:
1947 - Istanbul, Turkey: honorary diploma for the book written with Henri Agnel, Les Porte-greffes (Rootstocks).
1953 - Rome, Italy: Jury Award in the “Viticulture” category for his book, Précis d'ampélographie pratique (Handbook of Practical Ampelography).
1963 - Paris, France: Jury Award in the “Viticulture” category for his book, Cépages et vignobles de France (Vine varieties and vineyards of France), tomes 1 & 2.
1979 - Stuttgart, Germany: “Viticulture” Award for his book Les Maladies et les parasites de la vigne (Vine diseases and parasites), tome 1.
1983 - Johannesburg, South Africa: Jury award of special recognition in the “Viticulture” category, with a silver medal, for the collective body of his work.
2001 - Adelaide, Australia: Jury “Viticulture” Award with a silver medal for his book, Cépages et vignobles de France (Vine varieties and vineyards of France), 2nd edition, tomes 1 & 2.
2006 - Paris, France: Jury Award in the “Viticulture” category for his book, Cépages et vignobles de France (Vine varieties and vineyards of France), 2nd edition, tome 3 (2 volumes).
2016 - Paris, France: OIV Grand Prix Award for his contribution to the dissemination of knowledge of the wine sector and in acknowledgement of his internationally recognised work.