Irish Spirits Assoc meets with EU Commissioner
EU protection for Irish spirits categories and Geographical Indications were on the agenda
Print29 September 2017
The Irish Spirits Association (ISA) met with EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan in Brussels recently, to discuss Irish spirits categories which are protected by EU-recognised Geographical Indications, such as Irish cream liquor and Irish Poitín.
“Global sales of Ireland’s two main GI spirits – Irish whiskey and Irish cream liquor- totalled nearly 16 million cases, or nearly 200 million bottles in 2016 and were worth nearly €4 billion in sales value,” said William Lavelle, head of the Irish Spirits Association. “This growth is creating jobs in Ireland and is supporting Irish farmers’ incomes in terms of increasing purchases of malted barley, unmated grains and fresh cream.
“The recognition and protection offered by the EU Geographical Indication is a highly important factor in Ireland’s booming spirits exports and we want keep it that way,” he continued. “We are working with spiritsEurope to lobby for changes to the draft EU Spirits regulation, which is currently going through the European Parliament. Our key objective is to ensure the ongoing integrity of Ireland’s three spirit GIs.”
The ISA and spiritsEurope have raised concerns regarding new forms of definitions contained in the draft regulation or in amendments tabled to date. In particular, the ISA has raised concerns regarding proposed changes to definitions on issues such as place of manufacture, maturation statements and spirit categories. The ISA briefed Commissioner Hogan on these concerns and is actively engaging with Irish and Northern Irish MEP’s on the need for amendments to the proposed regulations.
The ISA also briefed Commissioner Hogan on domestic threats to growth including the advertising restrictions proposed in the Government’s proposed Alcohol Bill, which will undermine competition, innovation and investment in the Irish spirits industry.
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