New appointment for Aussie GI role

Australia’s Geographical Indications are to be looked after by a new Registrar of Protected Names, with the appointment of Jock Osborne, the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation’s long-standing Secretary. Geographical Indications provide the wine sector’s framework for protecting the use of regional names under international law. The system was introduced in 1994 to allow Australia to fulfil its agreement with the EU. This ensured improved access for the country’s wines into the European market in exchange for Australia phasing out the use of European geographic terms on its labels, such as burgundy and claret.

Geographical Indications – or GIs – designate wine areas into zones, regions or sub-regions, in a similar way to the European Appellation system. However, they are less restrictive in terms of viticultural and winemaking practices. In fact, the only restriction is that wine that carries the GI must include at least 85 per cent fruit from that region. Since the system was introduced, 28 zones, 60 regions and 11 sub-regions have been finalised.