Brussels, 23/07/13 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 23 July, European Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolo and Minister of the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Mr Zhi Shuping signed a letter of intent on tackling counterfeiting of alcoholic beverages.
Cooperation will involve sharing relevant information, as well as the identification of counterfeiting malpractices, including the counterfeiting of certificates of origin, marks of origin or other similar accompanying documents. The agreement also includes organisation of training and seminars on subjects such as control and traceability, detection methods authentication through laboratory analysis.
The current working group on alcoholic beverages will oversee and steer the cooperation mechanisms.
The EU intends to guarantee its access to the Chinese market. In 2012, China accounted for 11.4% of the EU's wine exports, with France, Spain and Italy the biggest exporters of wine. After signing the document, the commissioner welcomed this “step forward in increasing the efficiency of the EU-China cooperation” and added that the agreement “will bring benefits not only for producers, but also for Chinese consumers who will continue to enjoy safe, diverse and quality products”. (LM/transl.fl)