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Future of wine production

Resolution 1001 (1993)

Author(s):
Parliamentary Assembly
Origin
Assembly debate on 29 June 1993 (39th Sitting) (see Doc. 6831, report of the Committee on Agriculture, Rapporteur: Lord Mackie of Benshie). Text adopted by the Assembly on 29June 1993 (39th Sitting).
Thesaurus
1. The Assembly considers that vine cultivation, wine production and the use of wine is an important economic, social and cultural sector of European society, particularly of course, in southern Europe.
2. It is concerned that world production of wines is higher than demand and more specifically that the surplus production in Europe entails important costs to taxpayers.
3. It is concerned that while abuse of wine can have adverse effects on the health of consumers, this ignores the genuine benefits to health and happiness of sensible consumption.
4. Consequently, the Assembly calls on governments of member states and the European Community:
4.1 to adopt policies which will ensure a viable, quality-minded and diversified vini-viticultural sector in Europe, combining market forces with market supply measures to control the overproduction of low quality wines and thus eliminate storage, distillation and other surplus costs;
4.2 to ensure that such policies will be environmentally friendly and sustainable;
4.3 to ensure that alternative measures are taken to avoid social disruption in areas where vine growing and wine production is no longer economic;
4.4 ito stimulate technological developments and research which will enhance quality, but discourage techniques which raise volume at the expense of quality;
4.5 to ensure that consumers receive complete and objective information on all factors of importance in the selection and use of wine, in line with Assembly Recommendation 1142 (1991) on the labelling of quality food products, which in particular stresses the need to introduce a Europe-wide system of certification of origin, and to invite all the states which have acceded to GATT to recognise appellations indicating areas of origin and to guarantee protection of these;
4.6 to invite all wine-producing states wishing to export to the countries of Europe to comply with the quality standards imposed on themselves by European producers of quality wines;
4.7 to fully involve wine-producing regions (the European Conference of Wine-Producing Regions) and the wine trade in this work