Export Market Guide - Organic wine

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry administers the export program for the export of organic and biodynamic goods in Australia. The primary objective of the program is to ensure that organic and biodynamic produce exported from Australia meets the requirements of importing countries, ensuring that international market access is maintained.

Australia’s new agricultural export legislation began on 28 March 2021. It comprises the Export Control Act 2020 and the Export Control (Organic Goods) Rules 2021 (the Organic Rules). The Organic Rules replaced the previous legislation under the Export Control (Organic Produce Certification) Orders.

The Organic Rules specify the certification requirements that must be complied with for the export of organic goods. Any product described as ‘organic’ or ‘biodynamic’ (or indication of similar meaning, including ‘biological’, ‘ecological’ and ‘in-conversion to organic or biodynamic’) in a wine’s description and presentation is considered an organic claim and is captured by the export controls.

Organic and bio-dynamic produce for export must be certified by an approved certifying body, verifying that the produce has been prepared in accordance with the National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce—Edition 3.7 September 2016.

For export, wines with organic claims require an Organic Goods Certificate (OGC) issued by their approved certifying body prior to obtaining export approval. Exporting wines presented as organic without an OGC is an offence under the Organic Rules and can attract significant penalties.

Requirements for the export of organic product vary dependent on the level of recognition between trading countries of certification and product origin. For example, there are specific requirements for the export of products to China, Korea and the US, where stand-alone national organic programs are administered. Additional requirements apply for EU and UK shipments. For the EU and UK, all stages of the supply chain must be certified, including manufacturers, importers, exporters and wholesalers.;

There are four types of organic certificates:

1. EU Certificate of Inspection (CoI)
2. UK Certificate of Inspection (CoI)
3. Switzerland Certificate of Inspection (Col)
4. OGC for all other countries (EX1399).

Market Overviews

The Organic Export Requirements guide provides market overviews for a number of Australia’s key export markets including the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Japan, China, New Zealand, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Russia and Malaysia.

Download the guide here for detailed market overviews. Access: restricted to levy-payers only.