Thunder from Down Under As Aussies Attack BC Trade Practices

Aussie winemakers are accusing Canada of unfair business practices. BC wine lovers may like having VQA wines in their grocery stores, but the move has winemakers Down Under in a tizzy.

Australia has formally filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization alleging unfair trade practices by not only British Columbia, but three other provinces. The United States first filed a complaint with the WTO back in October, accusing BC of giving local wineries an unfair advantage by only selling local VQA wines in grocery stores.

The Australian government is taking the argument a few steps further, saying Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia also have policies that break the WTO’s rules on fair trade.

The Ontario government has pointed out that import wines account for 76 per cent of wines sold in their LCBO stores. Canada is the fourth largest market for Australian wines, but Australian wineries and government officials say they’ve seen exports falling by almost half between 2007 and 2016.

Speaking to The Australian newspaper, Trade Minister Steve Ciobo says Canada has clearly discriminated against Australian and other imported wines.

“Canada’s inconsistent measures include extra taxes, fees and markups on imported wine, separate distribution channels reserved for Canadian wine, and restricting sale of imported wine in grocery stores to a ‘store within a store,” Ciobo said.