In the vein of Neighbourhood Watch and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch, Wine Australia has launched the Wine Watch, a web page where people can anonymously report potential labelling or compositional breaches.
Wine Australia General Counsel, Rachel Triggs, said the page would allow people to suggest potential breaches for investigation.
‘Reports can be made anonymously, if desired, and scans or photographs of suspect labels or bottle images can be uploaded to assist our investigations.
‘Wine Australia takes our responsibility to protect the sector’s reputation domestically and internationally very seriously – along with the vast majority of the wine sector – and this page will make it easier for people to draw potential breaches to our attention.
‘We work hard to protect the reputation of Australian wine through administering export controls, the Label Integrity Program and ensuring wine labels comply with the blending rules and the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code’, Ms Triggs said.
‘Obviously, the more information that can be provided, the easier our job will be but we have the capacity and authority to follow up leads if we are provided with sufficient information to identify the wine label or wine company.
‘If you see something that you think might compromise the reputation or integrity of Australian wine, we want to know about it.’
The web page can be accessed here.