Want to ferment a few barrels? You’ll need to be registered, certified, and possibly blessed by a bureaucratic deity. Thinking of selling that wine? Good luck, you’re not just dealing with the tax man anymore. Now, you’ve got to prove your social and environmental sustainability credentials too.
When I was making organic wine, we averaged six inspections a year, all in with all the acronym certifications taken into account. Six! I swear, the inspectors must have seen the look of despair on my face from the driveway. It felt like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole: fix one issue, and another pops up. Nothing was ever quite good enough.
So where does all this come from? Is it just that the inspector doesn’t like your face? Or is there something deeper at play?
Here’s the thing: international trade isn’t just about loading your wine onto a ship and waving it off. The receiving country gets a say, and sometimes that 'say' feels like a toddler’s tantrum. Without their approval, your wine could sit in the Cape Town Harbour longer than a bottle of brandy in a teetotaller’s pantry.
If you're exporting to Europe (the example we will use for the purposes of this article, but applicable to all export countries in some variation), you’re not just dealing with South African regulations. You’ve got to comply with a sprawling list of EU laws and standards. Here’s a taste of what it looks like; a list of all the things you have to keep in mind when exporting your wine:
- Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, General Food Law
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Food Information to Consumers (FIC)
- Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, EU wine sector rules under the Common Market Organisation (CMO)
- Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
- Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, Pesticide Residues (MRLs)
- Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006, Contaminants in food
- Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, Union Customs Code (UCC)
- Union rules on preferential trade and tariff/quota arrangements
- Excise and alcohol taxation frameworks (EU Directives and national implementing rules)
- Regulation and guidance on nutrition and ingredient labelling for wine (EU implementing and delegated acts)
- Commission rules on oenological practices and treatments (wine-making rules, EU implementing/commission regulations)
- Food traceability, documentation and official controls (EU and Member State implementing rules).
- Packaging and packaging waste rules, Directive 94/62/EC and national EPR schemes
- Advertising and health-claim rules for alcoholic beverages (FIC, Audiovisual Media Services Directive and national laws)
- Transport and shipping regulations (customs, safety, bulk transport rules, hazardous goods rules where applicable)
- And probably/definitely more not mentioned on this list
To avoid having to compile a separate compliance ledger for every export and check each law individually for every product, South Africa has developed local certifications that align with these international standards. The goal? Make sure one rogue tank of wine doesn’t derail your entire shipment.
Enter organisations like SAWIS, WIETA (Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association), and IPW (Integrated Production of Wine). These bodies help producers meet social, environmental, and production standards that are recognised abroad. But for these certifications to carry weight, they must prove they’re aligned with the big trading blocs, especially the EU.
Something like how workers houses should look and the responsibilities of an employer in WIETA regulations are linked to Directive 89/391/EEC, Occupational Safety and Health Framework Directive (OSH Framework) set out by the European union, this then flows through to our Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) No. 75 of 1997 through which our government tries to align with international best practices. WIETA’s certifications regarding housing is thus anchored in these and many other legislative frameworks set out. So, you can see how pulling on one thread of some obscure European legislation can have a direct effect on South African farmers on their properties.
Ever wondered why South African wine producers have to jump through hoops to meet European standards, while a coffee farmer in central Africa doesn’t need WIETA certification to export beans? The answer lies in a little-known but powerful concept in international trade: the mirroring clause.
When trading with the European Union or other major trading partners, mirroring clauses require that imported goods meet the same production standards as those within the EU. That means if you want your wine on the shelves of ALDI in Germany, you have to comply with the same regulations as a vineyard in Bordeaux or Tuscany, minus the generous government subsidies they enjoy.
But here’s the twist: products that can’t be produced in the EU, like coffee or cocoa, often receive regulatory waivers. These waivers allow importers to bypass certain EU standards, which is why industries like coffee and chocolate haven’t faced the same pressure to modernize or certify. In fact, Fairtrade was born to address this very loophole, offering ethical alternatives in markets where mirroring clauses don’t apply.
Next time an inspector points out that your loading area warning signs aren’t the correct size or colour, even though they passed inspection last year, remember it’s not a personal attack. They’re simply trying to stay aligned with the ever-evolving and tightly regulated system dictated by Brussels, Beijing, and Washington.
So, we struggle on, trying to comply as best we can because in the end it is all part of the bigger mission: ensuring your bottle of wine meets every requirement to land safely on a shelf in Germany and getting that much needed cash in hand so we can do it all again tomorrow.