The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) considers the announcement made a few days ago by the British Minister of the Economy, Phillip Hammond, to increase taxes on wine in line with inflation to be worrying, and believes that this measure would only worsen the wine situation uncertainty for wine companies doing business with the UK since Brexit was announced in 2016.
For the general director of the FEV, José Luis Benítez, it is also an "unfair and discriminatory" measure that makes the wine sector one of the most affected by Brexit since, according to the minister himself, the increase The tax would only affect wine and not products such as beer, cider or spirits, which are produced more locally. "The increase would fundamentally penalize consumers and exporting companies from countries like ours, for which the United Kingdom is one of its main markets (fourth destination in value and fifth in volume)," Benítez pointed out.
The director of the FEV has highlighted that this announcement aggravates the uncertainty generated by Brexit for Spanish wineries and that it has already had direct effects such as the sharp devaluation of the pound and the consequent increase in the cost of European products, which have had an impact on exports of wine. Only during the first eight months of 2018, sales of Spanish wine to the United Kingdom have decreased by 12,9% in volume and 2,3% in value compared to the same period last year.
For all these reasons, the FEV has circulated an internal document to the partners to help them prepare and adopt decisions and measures in the event that in March 2019 we were faced with a "hard Brexit", with the idea of minimizing the possible disturbances in its activity with the United Kingdom, identifying a series of key factors in its operations and proposals for action for each one of them.
EU – Japan Agreement
In contrast to what happened with the United Kingdom, the Spanish and European wine sector views with optimism the recent approval by the INTA Committee of the European Parliament of the economic association agreement between the EU and Japan, which will allow the elimination of tariffs and trade barriers in this market, as well as generate new business opportunities.
Although it is only the first step for the final approval of the agreement, the sector is asking the MEPs to ratify this decision before the plenary next December and expedite its implementation. Currently, Japan is the fifth destination for European wine exports and the 12th for Spanish wine, so the implementation of the agreement at the beginning of 2019 is seen as a great opportunity to gain share in a market of special importance within from the Asian region.
