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ECCT pans wine import standards

"We very much welcome the opportunity to talk with the finance ministry, but there seem to be huge differences between our proposal and theirs."

Guy Wittich, European Chamber of Commerce Taipei chief executive officer

In response to strong criticism from the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT), the Ministry of Finance is considering relaxing the customs regulations for wine imports set to be implemented in July.

The ministry's National Treasury Agency officials are scheduled to meet with ECCT representatives on Tuesday for further discussions.

The agency is also pushing for amendments to the Regulations Governing the Inspection of Imported Alcohol (進口酒類查驗辦法) to boost efficiency, said Patrick Cheng (鄭裕博), the agency's deputy director-general, during a press conference yesterday.

According to the draft regulations, imports of batches of "rare and expensive wine," which are not subject to testing by customs officials, were defined as being of a volume not exceeding 9 liters and with an average CIF quote per liter exceeding NT$8,000 (US$246).

CIF quotes refer to prices including cost, insurance and freight. Retail prices are usually double that value.

To address the ECCT's concerns, the finance ministry plans to loosen the definition of "rare and expensive wine" to include batches of 90 liters or less and average CIF quotes of NT$4,000 per liter or more.

However, this still falls short of the ECCT's expectations.

"We very much welcome the opportunity to talk with the finance ministry, but there seem to be huge differences between our proposal and theirs," Guy Wittich, the chamber's chief executive officer, told the Taipei Times yesterday.

The ECCT hopes to see the regulations relaxed further to allow for batches as large as 180 liters and average CIF quotes of NT$1,000 per liter.

"We hope the government will trust our market knowledge. Otherwise we foresee considerable impacts on wine imports," he said.

Wittich said some wine makers have already canceled orders to ship wine to Taiwan.

The chamber estimated in February that the new import regulations would reduce wine imports by 1.5 million bottles, cutting sales of wine by about NT$400 million a year, or around 5 percent of the market.

In addition, around 30 percent of brands would disappear from local shelves, Wittich said at the time.

The government could lose NT$500 million in tax revenue because consumers may simply smuggle wines from abroad, he said.

The ministry's regulations also stipulate that, from July, all imported liquor must feature certificates specifying methanol, sulphur dioxide and lead content.

The ECCT claims that these requirements constitute an unnecessary obstacle to trade, thereby violating WTO guidelines.

"These tests are not [mandatory] in Europe because good alcohol-making practice is enough to guarantee the quality and safety of the products," the ECCT said in its EuroView February-March issue.
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