A final round of major negotiations with the EU will take place in Brussels in late April, as delegations work to seal a free trade deal by a mid-year deadline.
One of the biggest sticking points during the negotiations is Australia’s unwillingness to give ground over geographical indicators (GIs) on locally made produce such as prosecco and feta.
The government is running a public objections consultation process on wine GIs put forward by the EU.
The bloc is seeking protection for 50 new wine GIs under the wine agreement, which would stop producers elsewhere in the world using those names.
Australian Grape & Wine chief executive officer Lee McLean said prosecco growers first went into battle in 2013 to protect the Australian industry which is now worth $200 million.
“We will certainly be voicing our grievances about the EU’s push to protect prosecco as a GI,” he said
“Prosecco is a grape variety, just like shiraz is, just like chardonnay is. We need to make sure that Australian producers maintain that right to use the grape variety name on their labels.”
Natalie Pizzini from Pizzini Wines in Victoria’s north-east said if the EU’s claim on prosecco was successful then it would come at a huge cost to their company and others.
She said prosecco made up one-quarter of Pizzini bottled wine production.
“If prosecco is taken, what is next?” Ms Pizzini said.
“If it means we can no longer market grape varieties like sangiovese, nebbiolo, pinot grigio, we will have to spend as an industry millions and millions of dollars on renaming and rebranding and building markets for new grape variety names.”
Australia has previously agreed to protect more than 2000 EU wine GIs such as champagne and burgundy, while more than 100 Australian wine GIs like Barossa Valley and Margaret River have been agreed to by the EU.
Federal Trade Minister Don Farrell said the government would not sign a deal for the sake of it.
“Negotiations will only be concluded when we have a deal that’s in Australia’s national interest,” he said.
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