On Thursday 16 December, Food Minister Prentice signed into law the removal of the requirement for VI-1 certificates on all wine imported into Great Britain from 1 January 2022. This received widespread media coverage across national and trade media, including The Sun, Drinks Business, City AM and Drinks Retailing News.
With the EU, which accounts for 50% of UK wine imports, set to impose new restrictions on imports from the EU from 1 January, this legislation prevents the threat of additional costs for businesses, allowing us to remove unnecessary documentation and simplify imports.
The VI-1 certificate accompanies imports of wine into Great Britain. It provides details of the wine shipment and a technical analysis of that wine. These certificates currently accompanies imports from the rest of the world into Great Britain but not from the European Union.
Food Minister Victoria Prentice said:
The UK wine industry offers high quality, great value wines from all over the world.
By removing this useless bureaucracy, our companies are in a stronger and more competitive position than before.
Eliminating import certification requirements is an important step in supporting this vital industry, and a clear benefit is that we now have the freedom to set our own rules.
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