Press Release: The European Commission welcomes completion of the negotiations on the wine and spirits agreements between the European Union and South Africa

The EU and South African negotiators reached a provisional technical agreement on Friday 9 June on the conclusion of two bilateral agreements on trade in wines and spirits. The consolidated texts of the two agreements will be formally presented to the Council in the next few weeks. Once they have been approved by the Council, the two agreements will enter into force on 1 September following signing by the two sides. The Member of the Commission with special responsibility for development cooperation and humanitarian aid, Mr Poul Nielson, expressed his satisfaction with the overall results, which were fair and took proper account of Community interests. He added that the conclusion of the negotiations made it possible to concentrate on further developing relations with this major partner. Mr Franz Fischler, the Member of the Commission with special responsibility for agriculture, rural development and fisheries said that the agreement would be positive for the two sides. He indicated that the objective of the agreements was to facilitate trade for both sides in wine and spirits and that they concerned in particular the mutual protection of geographical indications, including designations of origin and certain traditional names of spirits.