I am grateful to the noble Lord; he raised some good points. I will address the first one, about labelling. I think he asked whether the Government will permanently ease the requirement that wine sold in GB must show the prefix “importer” or “imported by” on the label with the address. The Government engage regularly with the wine sector and recognise that removing the requirement for importer labelling is a key industry request. We are also aware that the current easement that allows the EU importer to appear will end this December. We intend to set out the way forward on this issue and other Brexit opportunities soon.
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The noble Lord asked whether the Government would take advantage of the possibility of amending retained EU law to benefit the UK. Yes, the Government are developing a reform package with the aim of making changes to help the thriving wine and viticulture sector to grow and innovate. These changes will look to remove regulatory barriers to growth and innovation
and allow greater flexibility to help our producers continue producing quality products for the domestic and export markets. A visit to some of the southern counties of England will show just how the landscape in many parts of the country is changing, with new vineyards appearing every year. This is a growing industry and one that we as a Government want to support.
The noble Lord asked how many producers we think will avail themselves of this. I echo the points raised by my honourable friend in the other place. It is not certain, but this measure has been specifically asked for by the drinks sector—by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association and other bodies. It is not earth-shattering and headline-grabbing stuff, but it is important. It allows a degree of flexibility, which will assist small producers to avoid the cost of having to go through expensive relabelling if they want to approach a market in a niche way. This is important because it will help them adapt their business to market demands.
I believe we all recognise the importance of international trade agreements in moving forward the economy and driving trade. I am delighted that there is support for this measure. The improvements that we make on wine and alcohol labelling generally will provide greater flexibility for our trading partners, as well as our domestic producers, and will contribute to growth in our economically important wine and alcohol sectors.
I hope I have addressed the points that the noble Lord raised and that the Committee will approve the instrument.