Welcome

Welcome to the August 2024 edition of Wine News. All previous newsletters are available here under Editions of Wine News, you will also find previous communications under Previous announcements.

In this month’s edition we will cover:

• Survey to gain insights into the export of New Zealand grape wine through Wine e-Cert;
• Update on organic wine exported to the USA;
• Reminder for Organic Exporters exporting to European markets on signing limits for Official Organic Assurances;
• Wine e-Cert tips;
• MPI Trade Certification.

Survey to gain insights into the export of New Zealand grape wine through Wine e-Cert

We have 20 quick questions for you, as the contact person for an organisation currently exporting New Zealand grape wine, through Wine e-Cert, with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

For those exporting organisations who complete the survey, we would like to offer you a $5 GiftPay card (sent via email) or the option to donate $5 to one of three charities.

Your response will help New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) tailor resources to help wine exporters meet their New Zealand exporting requirements.

The Navigators (a research agency) is conducting the survey on behalf of NZFS. Your responses will be provided to NZFS in an anonymous format.

If you do not manage the exporting requirements of your organisation, please forward this email to the appropriate person – ideally, we would like one completion per organisation.

For further information, please contact:

Penny Turner, Director, The Navigators

Email: penny.turner@thenavigators.co.nz
 

Bruno Butler, Manager – Exporter Regulatory Advice Service, New Zealand Food Safety

Email: Bruno.Butler@mpi.govt.nz

Thank you for your help!

To start the survey, please click the link below...

https://survey.thenavigators.co.nz/s3/20-Qs-from-NZFS-Wine

Exporting Organic Wine to the USA – from 19 September 2024 the US importer must be certified organic

In March 2024, MPI published a revised OER: US OMAR requiring all consignments exported to the USA to be associated with a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) import certificate.

The USDA NOP rules for NOP import certificates require that the US importer named in the certificate must be certified organic. Since March 2024, the USDA has allowed continued generation of a NOP import certificate where the US importer is not certified organic. This was a temporary measure to allow time for US importers and the US organic certification bodies to process the requests of all those importers that needed to get certified organic.

The USDA has advised that this temporary measure will end on 19 September 2024. The USDA has also advised that this will likely impact consignments that are ‘on the water’ on 19 September 2024, with a NOP Import Certificate issued for an uncertified (organic) US importer.

If your US clients are not already certified organic importers, or using a certified organic importer, please engage with them urgently to confirm they are on track to complete the organic certification process before 19 September 2024. (Or engage the services of a certified organic importer).

For more information, please contact organics@mpi.govt.nz.

Exporting organic grape wines to Europe – A reminder on signing limits for Official Organic Assurances (Organic Export Certificates, Certificates of Inspection)

Organic wine exporters seeking to export organic wine under MPI’s Official Organic Assurance Programme (OOAP) to European markets must obtain a Certification of Inspection (COI) prior to the departure of the consignment from New Zealand.

Obtaining official organic assurance applies to organic exports to the European Union (EU), Great Britain, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, and Norway.

Signing limits (deadlines) for COIs are set in the laws and regulations by the respective European market.

The process to obtain an organic export certification is separate from the process to obtain export eligibility statements (and the VI-1 document where appropriate) for wine.

Exporters are responsible for ensuring goods do not leave New Zealand without the necessary documentation. The average turnaround time for processing a complete COI request is three working days.

Note: For exports to the EU, Northern Ireland, Norway, or Switzerland, (but not for exports to Great Britain) you will also need to prepare a COI in (TRACES-NT).

A PDF copy of the COI must be submitted together with the OOA application. TRACES-COIs are issued electronically; no paper certificate is generated.

For exports to Great Britain, GB-COI certificates are generated manually.

Contact details for support

• For specific assistance with individual OOA requests, contact the MPI Certification Unit via email: organic.certification@mpi.govt.nz
  • OOAP Recognised Agencies are also a valuable source of guidance on individual applications.
• For general questions about exporting under the OOAP, or for assistance registering in TRACES-NT, contact the OOAP team via email: organics@mpi.govt.nz or refer to the MPI website Exporting Organic Food

Wine e-Cert tips

MPI receives many queries from exporters about why their consignment request is showing an incomplete status.

Please remember that detailed guidance, including videos, on how to use Wine e-Cert are available on the MPI Steps to exporting New Zealand grape wine webpage under the ‘Wine e-Cert Resources’ tab.

The resources tab includes details about how to identify why a consignment request is sitting in an incomplete status. Details on this particular item are available on page 9 of the Wine e-Cert: Creating a consignment request and obtaining export documentation guide.

MPI Trade Certification

If you are a current user of the Wine e-Cert system, you will begin receiving updates from the Future of Certification Programme team about the upcoming release of MPI Trade Certification.

As we get closer to go-live, you will receive information about how you can prepare for the move to MPI Trade Certification, about training opportunities and learning resources that will be available, and how you can access further help should you need it.

The Future of Certification Programme will contact you from the FutureCertification@mpi.govt.nz email address.

For further information on the Future of Certification Programme, please visit the Replacing our trade certification systems webpage.

To keep up to date with updates to the MPI website, including updates to export information such as OMARs and FYI documents, please click the link below.