Putin Signs Law That Cause Moet’s Champagne Supply to Stop
According to the adopted amendments, the concept of “champagne” is allowed to be used only in relation to champagne produced in Russia, and importers must rename the product to “sparkling wine”
President Vladimir Putin signed a law that led to the suspension of shipments of champagne from Moet to Russia. The document was published on the portal of legal information.
This document provides for amendments to 171-FZ “On the regulation of alcoholic beverages”, which clarify the definitions and introduce additional requirements for wine products.
In particular, the wording “sparkling wine (champagne)” was replaced by the category “sparkling wine, including Russian champagne”. At the same time, the classification of protected geographical appellation (PGI) / protected appellation of origin (PRO) wines is carried out on the basis of the Russian national system for the protection of wine products, which applies only to Russian wines. Thus, the concept of “champagne” was allowed to be used only in relation to champagne produced in Russia.
Moet Hennessy has already warned about stopping shipments of champagne to Russia.
In connection with the adoption of these amendments, one of the largest champagne producers, Moet Hennessy, announced that it was suspending shipments to Russia for an indefinite period. Changes in the legislation will require the distribution division of the company “Moet Hennessy Distribution Rus” to recertify sparkling wines in order to change the category to sparkling wine and change the product labeling. As stated in her letter to Russian partners, the champagne producers “did not confirm their readiness to change the category of champagne wines for the Russian market.”
According to statistics, Russia annually imports about 50 million liters of imported sparkling and champagne wines, of which 13% is champagne from France. Moet Hennessy accounts for less than 2%.
The amendments clarify definitions and introduce additional requirements for wine products. In particular, they exclude the use of the concept of “champagne”, allowing it to be used only in relation to “Russian champagne” produced on the territory of Russia. “And oblige the producers of champagne wines from the French region of Champagne to rename their products to“ sparkling wine, ”explains Moet Hennessy in a letter.
Changes in legislation will require Moet Hennessy Distribution Rus to recertify sparkling wines in order to change the category to sparkling wine and change the product labeling. According to the company, mesons (champagne producers) “did not confirm their readiness to change the category of champagne wines for the Russian market.”
The Ministry of Finance (oversees the alcohol industry) and Rosalkogolregulirovanie and explained that the amendments are changing:
1. In the definition of the types of alcoholic products, the wording “sparkling wine (champagne)” has disappeared – it has been replaced by the category “sparkling wine, including Russian champagne”.
2. The classification of wines with protected geographical indication (PGI) / protected designation of origin (PRO) is carried out on the basis of the Russian national system for the protection of wine products, which applies only to Russian wines, which means that importers will not be able to use it. Champagne is the name for a sparkling wine produced and marketed under the protection of the Champagne AOC French appellation. But based on the amendments, Russian legislation will not take this “protection” into account.