EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Subject - Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Amendment Act 2010
Proclamation
Section 2 of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Amendment Act 2010 (the Act) provides that Schedules 1 and 2 to the Act commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation. However, if any of the provisions of Schedules 1 and 2 do not commence within six months of the date the Act receives the royal assent, then those provisions commence on the first day after the end of that six month period. The Act received the Royal Assent on 6 July 2010.
The purpose of the Proclamation is to fix 1 September 2010 as the day on which Schedules 1 and 2 to the Act commence. This date is significant because the Act implements the Australia-European Community Agreement on Trade in Wine (the Agreement) and the Proclamation date would be the date the Agreement enters into force.
Schedule 1 to the Act makes the necessary amendments to Australian legislation for Australia to bring the Agreement into force. The schedule amends the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act 1980 (AWBC Act) and Trade Marks Act 1995 (Trade Marks Act).
The amendments provide rules for the protection of foreign country geographical indications (GIs), translations of foreign country GIs, traditional expressions, Australian quality wine terms and other additional terms. To provide for these changes the objects of the AWBC Act and the powers of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) are amended.
Amendments to the Trade Marks Act are necessary to implement the Agreement and to ensure that its interpretation is consistent with that of the AWBC Act.
Schedule 2 of the Act further protects Australia’s reputation for the production of wines of quality and integrity. This is achieved by strengthening the AWBC’s Label Integrity Program (LIP). Amendments to the LIP will provide that those involved in the production, distribution and sale of wine and grapes used to make wine must keep a record of the date of receipt, quantity, vintage, variety, GI and the identity of the supplier (or recipient) of those goods. A new offence will be created to apply to a person who makes a claim relating to vintage, variety or GI of wine goods when that claim is not supported by their records.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Authority: Section 2 of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Amendment Act 2010