Australia lodges WTO complaint against Canada
Australia filed a trade complaint against Canada on Tuesday, accusing the North American nation of placing "discriminatory" regulations on the sale of wine imported from abroad.
In its formal objection, filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO), claimed that Canadian laws had unfairly disadvantaged international wine producers, and follows a similar complaint made by US manufacturers back in October 2017.
"In this case, we've got a number of provinces in Canada that are putting in place pro-protectionist policies," said Australian trade minister Steve Ciobo.
"I'm not going to stand by and see Aussie exporters jeopardised."
Similar to the complaint filed by the United States, Australia claimed that rules within the Canadian province of British Columbia, where local wines are sold in grocery shops but imported wines are required to be contained to a "store within a store" with a separate cash register, gave an unfair advantage to local produce.
However, Australia's objection also highlights Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, as well as federal measures that it felt "appear to discriminate against imported wine", and alleged the nation was in violation of WTO agreements by doing so.
The "violations" Canberra is accusing its fourth-biggest wine market of include, higher price mark-ups for imported wines, and several other barriers to sale.