Mr Jean-Marie Aurand, accompanied by Dr Jean-Claude Ruf (Scientific Coordinator of the OIV), presented statistics relating to production, trade and consumption of wine around the world and the latest developments as part of the WHO expert meeting dedicated to evaluating global alcoholic beverage consumption.
This meeting falls within the framework of the collaboration between the WHO and the OIV, which was initiated several years ago. Indeed, the WHO uses OIV data to a significant extent as a basis for the evaluation of the production and consumption of alcohol of vitivinicultural origin in various countries around the world.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is proposing to amend its regulations to permit the use of American viticultural area (AVA) names as appellations of origin (AO) on labels for wines that would otherwise qualify for the use of the AVA name, except that the wines have been fully finished in a State adjacent to the State in which the viticultural area is located, rather than the State in which the labeled viticultural area is located.
The proposal would provide greater flexibility in wine production and labeling while still ensuring that consumers are provided with adequate information as to the identity of the wines they purchase.
TTB permits the use of viticultural area names as appellations of origin on wine labels, so that vintners may better describe the origin of their wines and consumers may better identify the wines they may purchase.