New wine committee established
The Agricultural Produce Commission is excited to announce the new APC Wine Producers’ Committee. The Wine Producers’ Committee was established in December 2015, with representation from all the wine regions of Western Australia.
With the relevant legislation now enacted the Committee will work with all Western Australian Wine Regional Associations and the State association to provide services on behalf of Western Australian Wine Producers’. The required funding of a fee for service will be collected from all wine producers annually after vintage, commencing from the 2016 vintage.
The wine industry requires a united, sustainable and influential voice and the creation of the APC Wine Committee, working with all State and Regional Wine Associations will secure a funding model to enable the Western Australian Wine Industry to prosper.
The APC already has 10 Producers’ Committees including vegetables, pome (apples and pears), Carnarvon bananas and strawberry. These APC Committees undertake various initiatives such as industry specific research, industry development, biosecurity, and promotion within industries, and funded by industries.
The APC Chairman, Dr William Ryan said that “The new wine committee structure will provide ongoing funding for both state wide matters and each of the regional wine associations. This is another example of the APC structure providing a good framework by which industries can fund their activities on a sustainable basis.”
The Wine Producers’ Committee represents all West Australian wine regions and with the security of funding will be able to instigate longer term programs to bring about positive change and growth for West Australian Wine Producers.
One already identified goal will be to increase recognition of Western Australian fine wine regions as some of the best, most distinctive, pure, and pristine in the world.
The Chairperson of the Committee; Mr Jeff Burch of Howard Park and MadFish Wines said “We have an exciting future with wine in Western Australia, where we have a wonderful product, produced in a clean green environment that is increasingly appreciated globally.
This development will enable the WA Wine Industry to work together to take that message to the global market place. Every bottle of WA Wine sold outside of WA is a post card from Western Australia.”
The Commission and the Committee will work closely with wine producers’ in this first year of operation to ensure a smooth implementation of the new Committee.
Anyone wanting to know more can contact the Committee chairperson, Jeff Burch on +61 (0) 418 384 558, or the Commission directly through Ingrid Smith, +61 (0)8 9368 3127, APCManager@agric.wa.gov.au.