GRAPES FREED AT LAST
Prohibition- era law made it illegal to ship wine to out- of- province buyers
Okanagan winemakers were celebrating Thursday after MPs approved an amendment to a prohibition- era law that made it illegal for out- of- province travellers to take a bottle of B. C. wine back home with them.
The so- called “Free My Grapes” bill, named after a website that lobbied for changes to the antiquated Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act, passed third reading unanimously in the House of Commons and is now headed for the Senate.
The amendment removes federal restrictions that have been in place since 1928 on transporting wine across provincial boundaries, leaving it up to the provinces to set limits on how much wine returning visitors can bring with them. It will also permit wineries to ship wine to out- of- province customers without fear of federal prosecution.
“I believe there is going to be a huge appetite for B. C. wines out East and vice versa,” said Jak Meyer , owner of Meyer Family Vineyards at Okanagan Falls.
“They are a bigger population base and for a small number of B. C. wineries that’s a huge, new audience for us.”
Meyer said he is attending an international wine event on cool climate Chardonnay at Niagara in July and there’s nothing that would please him more than being able to market his wine to potential customers there.
“I’d like to be able to say ‘ If you like the wine, give me your address and I will ship it to you.’”
At Naramata’s Poplar Grove winery, founder Ian Sutherland said he expects sales to increase by five per cent because of the new Canadian markets that will now open up.
“We have guests visiting our tasting room from all over the country and to date we have not been able to legally ship Canadian product to our Canadian customers, which hamstrings the hometown team,” he said. “This is a big issue.”
Okanagan- Coquihalla MP Dan Albas, who introduced the private members bill, said Conservative and Liberal senators have promised speedy passage of the bill so it can receive royal assent in time for the summer tourism season. It passed first reading in the Senate Thursday.
“We really want to see more production. More production means more sales, more sales means more investment to the industry and more jobs for [ British Columbians].”
Rich Coleman, minister responsible for the B. C. Liquor Distribution Branch, said he foresees no problems within B. C. for either consumers or wineries in bringing back a case of wine or shipping it out.
“I don’t think I have to change any laws to allow it happen, but I am checking overnight, obviously. But the challenge will be: will jurisdictions allow it to come in? I have had the experience where I have received letters from other liquor control boards across the country as the minister over the years, where they say: ‘ this is happening,’” he said, referring to direct shipments of wine that bypass liquor boards.
Provinces without a wine industry may feel they have nothing to gain and tax revenues to lose, so could impose restrictions, he said.
“As far as I am concerned, our guys will be allowed to ship their wine. But they are going to have to do it within the laws of whatever jurisdiction is receiving it.”
Coleman said B. C. and other provinces that want inter- provincial trade on wine intend to reach reciprocal agreements and Ontario and B. C. intend to lead the way.
The issue, he said, is how to ensure shipments are for personal consumption.
“I don’t think we should get fussed about a case of wine coming from Niagara to someone’s home in Kelowna. Where we would get fussed, or where any jurisdiction would get fussed, is if they started shipping wine directly to restaurants, bars or private liquor stores.”
One of the advocates of the Free My Grapes movement, Vancouver lawyer Mark Hicken, said provinces need to clarify their positions on what wineries and consumers can and cannot do, now that Ottawa is leaving it up to provinces to set limits.
Hicken said studies in the U. S. have shown that only one half of one per cent of wine sales are to out- of- state customers. If the same holds true in Canada, provinces need not be concerned that they stand to lose significant revenues on wine and liquor markups. It’s the small wineries that generally benefit the most. The importance for B. C. wineries, he said, is that the removal of restrictions allows wineries to increase their presence in new markets through direct sales and advertising.
“There’s been a huge amount of public support for this,” he said.
“There’s positive momentum behind this now and I guess we are all holding our breath a little bit to see what provinces are going to do.”