Update to the European Union wine OMAR

The Wine Notice: European Union Wine OMAR – Amendment 9 (EU wine OMAR) reflects the changes to the European Union requirements which have been implemented in MPI Trade Certification.

The updated OMAR came into effect on 29 September 2025. The update includes:

• For wines produced on or after 8 December 2023: when an ingredient list is required to be on the official assurance (VI-1 Document) and when a statement can be used instead.
  • an ingredient list is only required for bulk wine, partially de-alcoholised and de-alcoholised bulk wine.
  • the statement provided by the European Union is required for de-alcoholised packaged wine. 
  • no ingredient list is required for packaged wine as the Simplified VI-1 document agreed under the New Zealand–European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) does not include an ingredient list.  
• Revised guidance clarifying:
  • when a VI-1 document can be requested for the re-export of wine from another country to the European Union and how this is requested. 
  • update to section 2.9 to clarify the export of New Zealand organic wine to this market. 

Update to the Great Britain wine OMAR

The Wine Notice: Great Britain Wine OMAR – Amendment 3 (GB wine OMAR) provides some general clarification.

The updated OMAR came into effect on 29 September 2025. The update includes:

• a list of additional oenological practices recently agreed under the NZ-UK FTA. 
• clarification of when a VI-1 document can be requested for wine that will be re-export from Great Britain to the European Union.
• a link to guidance on wine labelling for Importing wine. 
• revised guidance to clarify the export of New Zealand organic wine to this market.

Duplicate product entry

In MPI Trade Certification, if you have a duplicate of a product and no exports have been made, try and update it to a new product. If the duplicate product can’t be changed, please complete the following the steps:

• update the main wine name to include the text ‘DO NOT USE’.
• cancel any chemistry testing, if applicable.
• contact the MPI Trade Certification team to reduce any available litres to zero.

Changing shipment dates

A reminder that if your shipping date changes from the date listed on your original approved export document request, please complete a replacement request to update this information. Where official assurances have been issued, these will have to be returned to MPI before replacement documents can be approved and issued.

Export request approval

The MPI Wine Certification team is responsible for approving export requests. Their operating hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm. Please note that export approvals will not occur outside of these hours, so please consider this when submitting export requests.

Organic alcoholic beverages included in NZ-Japan organic equivalence arrangement

From 1 October 2025, organic wine that complies with the MPI Official Organic Assurance Programme (OOAP) Organic Export Requirements may be exported to Japan under the Official Organic Assurance Programme with an official organic assurance.

The Plant, Wine and Organic Assurance team is preparing an amendment to Organic Export Requirement: Japan Overseas Market Access Requirements (OER: JP OMAR) to clarify the scope of products covered by the arrangement in clause 1.1. MPI will send a further notification to organic exporters when the updated OER: JP OMAR is available.

Exporting organic wine reminders

If you are exporting your organic wine under the MPI OOAP, please remember that some organic markets have strict deadlines for getting the official organic assurance.

MPI encourages organic exporters to work closely with their freight forwarders to ensure you are kept updated with timely advice about changes to shipping.

• If you are exporting organic wine to the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, and/or Northern Ireland, the Certificate of (organic) Inspection (COI) must be issued in the European Union’s electronic certification system (TRACES) before the wine leaves New Zealand.
• If you are exporting organic wine to the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland), the Great Britain Certificate of (organic) Inspection (GB-COI) must be issued in MPI Trade Certification before the wine leaves New Zealand.
• If you are exporting organic wine to the United States of America, the National Organic Program (NOP) Import Certificate must be requested before the wine leaves New Zealand.
• If you are exporting organic wine to Taiwan or Japan, MPI recommends the official organic assurance is issued before the wine leaves New Zealand.

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Contact Us

If there are specific items that you would like us to cover in future editions, please get in touch with us.

Wine Assurance, New Zealand Food Safety — Haumaru Kai Aotearoa

Email wine.query@mpi.govt.nz  

Website Exporting New Zealand grape wine | NZ Government

For updates on export information such as OMARs and FYI documents, click the link below.