China Releases Access Requirements for Wine Industry

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Jun. 8 – In accordance with the “Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China” and other relevant regulations, the “Wine Industry Access Requirements (hereafter referred as the ‘Requirements’)” have been formulated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and are aimed at making the following improvements to the industry:

  • Strengthening management
  • Standardizing investment behavior
  • Ensuring food safety
  • Rationalizing distribution systems
  • Promoting orderly development

Enterprises that fail to meet the standards of the Requirements will not be licensed or permitted to operate in the country. The Requirements will come into effect on July 1, 2012.

Business layout
In terms of investments into new, rebuilding and expanding businesses, wine enterprises shall comply with state laws, industry policies, land policies, ecological environmental plans and industry development plans. The energy-saving evaluation and environmental impact assessment shall be strictly implemented by wine production enterprises.

Location-wise, new project sites shall meet the demands of “Winery Hygienic Standards (GB12696)” and grape planting bases shall be built in areas with a suitable environment for food processing.

Measures of scale
There are different measures of scale for newly established wine enterprises. If a newly established wine enterprise or project uses raw materials in production (fresh grapes or grape juice), the annual production capacity shall not be less than 1,000 kiloliters. For import-based wine enterprises, annual production capacity shall not be less than 2,000 kiloliters. The annual production capacity for wineries shall not be less than 75 kiloliters. The government also encourages existing wine enterprises to upgrade and standardize their business through mergers or reorganization.

According to the national standard of “Wine (GB15037),” the Requirements do not apply to several specified wine production enterprises (projects).

Safety guarantee of raw material
In order to ensure safety, wine enterprises shall use certified, traceable and reliable raw materials for production. Also, wine enterprises’ support capability for raw materials shall not be less than 50 percent of production capacity. For import-based wine enterprises, production-based wineries and specified special wine production enterprises, their support capability for raw materials shall not be less than 70 percent of their production capacity.

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