'This is a huge opportunity': Wine growers press to bring down interprovincial trade barriers 

'This is a huge opportunity'

The time is ripe to squeeze out agreements to bring down interprovincial trade barriers for Canadian wine.

Wine Growers Canada is putting pressure on federal and provincial officials in light of the unpredictable international trade environment and the ongoing threat of U.S. tariffs.

“We have an opportunity here. This may be one of the only silver linings that comes out of the Trump announcements on increasing tariffs,” says Dan Paszkowski, WGC president & CEO.

“It has opened the eyes of Canadians wanting to try local products including wine. And it’s recognition that we have to diversify our interests and the best place to start is at home.”

Paszkowski says the agreement reached between B.C. and Alberta that went into effect earlier this year ending a trade spat over wine shipments to consumers would be a good template to apply to all provinces.

Paszkowski says 66 per cent of all the wine sold on store shelves in Canada is imported from other countries. Only eight per cent are B.C. VQA wines.

“If the liquor boards across the country are not doing justice to selling the wines that we produce here in Canada, then they should have no fear of allowing consumers to order it direct-delivered from a winery in another province."

He suggests taxes are at the root of the problem.

“In most provinces, the liquor board is the only place where you can buy alcohol and opening that door a little bit to alternative means of buying alcohol is not in the best interest of the individual liquor boards.

“Collecting taxes is probably the key issue that provincial liquor boards don’t want to lose, and that’s how they’ve been advising the premiers and decision-makers in their provinces,” Paszkowski said.

He said it is not the wine producers throwing up barriers to products from other jurisdictions within Canada.

“Nova Scotia is not scared of Ontario or B.C. wine entering into their province, because they believe that high tide floats all ships.

“Maybe unlike other sectors of the economy, the wine industry is very happy when a small winery produces a fantastic five-star wine because it puts attention into the great wine that Canadian wineries produce. We’re not scared of a little bit of competition.”

He pointed to a 2005 ruling in the United States that it was unconstitutional not to allow a winery in one state to send its products to consumers in another state. Since that ruling, almost all states have allowed direct-to-consumer delivery.

In 2012, the federal government passed Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas’s private member’s bill intended to permit Canadians to order wine from wineries in other provinces for personal use.

However, a dozen years later, WGC said only 20 per cent of the population in three provinces can order wine from any wine-producing province and have it delivered to their home.

WGC said the wine industry is the country’s highest-value agricultural sector. Industry research shows that for every $1 spent on Canadian wine, $3.20 in GDP is generated across the country. The organization says interprovincial winery-to-consumer delivery is supported by nine out of 10 Canadians.

“I was at a meeting today, and you know, allowing for free trade within Canada would contribute four per cent to our GDP. That’s extremely important. You’re looking at trade within Canada being equivalent to something like free trade with China,” noted Paszkowski.

“This is huge. It’s a huge opportunity and somebody’s got to start, so why don’t we start with probably one of the easier low-hanging fruit, which is alcohol.”