At the invitation of the Bordeaux city council, the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) and the Council for the Grands Crus Classés in 1855, the experts specialised in wine law discussed the theme of “Wine law in practice: compliance, negotiation and dispute settlement”.
As the vine and wine sector has become global, a specific branch of law has thus developed around it and this relies upon the international expertise assured by the IWLA (International Wine Law Association), its members and its network.
The German solicitor Thomas Schmitz, President of the IWLA, likes to believe that Montesquieu (a magistrate and vine grower, undoubtedly one of the first legal experts in wine who was, in his time, opposed to restrictions on planting) would have particularly appreciated the subject matter. The theme allowed for discussions on alternative methods for conflict resolution and the implementation of viticultural controls where, for the first time, a panel of French, Australian and Canadian judges can compare the methods for assessing the validity of evidence.
On the 30th anniversary of the first conference held in Champagne in 1987, the Director of the Council for the Grands Crus Classés in 1855 and active member of the IWLA, Sylvain Boivert, hosted the two days of the conference at the Palais de la Bourse. He expressed his delight that – following Tuscany in 2016 and prior to Napa Valley the coming year – Bordeaux was able to welcome the elite of the world of wine law for these annual meetings that saw unparalleled success in 2017, pairing legal expertise with the attractiveness of Bordeaux and the art of playing host to several Grands Crus Classés.
With a Master in Vine and Wine Law from Bordeaux, Sylvain Boivert was also appreciative of the opening up of the IWLA, which enabled around 50 Master's students in Wine Law from the Universities of Bordeaux and Reims to attend this conference for free and thus meet the top international experts in the field.
As emphasised by the IWLA Secretary General, Yann Juban, legal expert and Assistant to the Director General of the OIV (who placed this conference under its patronage), "following the creation of oenological science in the 19th century and the development of global vineyards after the phylloxera crisis in the 20th century, an area of law truly specific to vine and wine was put in place, at the national, regional and international levels". To quote Montesquieu, he specified that the following also applies to vitiviniculture: "useless laws weaken necessary laws".
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The IWLA (International Wine Law Association) was founded in 1985 by European and American legal experts, with the aim of creating a forum for research and discussion on legal issues concerning the viticultural community and wine trade around the world. Today the IWLA is composed of over 300 members, individual and institutional, originating from 30 countries spread over 5 continents.
The IWLA seeks to involve the competent authorities in its work in order to keep them informed of vitivinicultural law in other countries and to thus contribute to the sector's evolution in terms of harmonisation at the international level, particularly through its observer status at the OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine) and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).
The IWLA's members include lawyers, judges, civil servants, notaries, university law professors, students, heads of companies or professional organisations, and associations. The IWLA deals with issues related to rural law, intellectual property and counterfeiting, contracts, trade, economic law and fraud, publicity, the environment, jurisprudence, disputes, arbitration and all other legal matters that apply to the vine and wine sector, from a comparative and international perspective.
To attend this press conference, journalists are kindly asked to send an email with their name and their professional contact details to press@oiv.int.
Date: Tuesday 24 October 2017
Time: 11 am
Location: International Organisation of Vine and Wine, (OIV), 18 Rue d'Aguesseau, Paris 75008 - Metro station Madeleine or Concorde [see map]
On 13-17 September, the first International Wine and Chinese Food Forum was held in Fangshan, near to Beijing.
Placed under the patronage of the OIV, the aim of this event was to promote wine in China paired with Chinese cuisine.
Around 20 experts (sommeliers, masters of wine, top chefs and specialist journalists), a third of whom were from other countries, selected the best pairings from a dozen or so traditional Chinese dishes and wine samples chosen out of 300 wines from around the world. Also on the programme was an international wine exhibition as well as a conference series on the theme of 'wine and culture'.
Organised with the support of around 20 vitivinicultural companies from Fangshan District and the District government, this event brought together several thousand participants.
On this occasion, the Director General of the OIV, after a presentation of the Organisation, issued a panorama of the vitivinicultural sector at the global scale and the main issues for the future – with a particular focus on different approaches for promoting vitiviniculture through its historical and cultural dimensions.
During this visit, in Beijing, Jean-Marie Aurand met Mr Qu Dongyu, Vice-Minister for Agriculture in charge of international cooperation, and was received by Mr Bian Zhenhu, President of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs and Native Produce (CFNA), which is linked to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
The Director General praised the development of relations between China and the OIV, particularly with regions that have observer status (Yantai in Shandong and Ningxia) but also with the Enology faculty of the University in Yangling.
The OIV has received a growing number of requests from all of the Chinese wine regions at a time when the Chinese vitivinicultural sector is seeing strong growth.
Jean-Marie Aurand expressed to those with whom he spoke the wish for this cooperation to result in the full accession of China to the OIV.
With a surface area of 875 000 hectares, 85% of which are destined for table-grape production, China has the 2nd largest area under vines in the world.
China is the leader among producing and consuming countries for table grapes. Wine production has reached 11.5 million hectolitres – placing it 8th in the world – and consumption 17 million hectolitres, making China the 5th biggest consumer.