Potential as a technical barrier to trade.

When a label says "organic", in countries with organic regulation, it means the wine has met certain standards that are set by a government agency or standard setting body. Different nations have their own certification criteria, so what's organic in one country may not be so in another. For example, one of the largest misconceptions about organic wine in Australia is that it is preservative free. Certification requirements vary across the world from one country to another and from one certifying organisation to another. Under organic and biodynamic certification in Australia, the amount of preservative allowed in the final product is about 50% of what can be used under conventional food standards for wine. However, in the US, to label your wine as "Organic Wine" no preservative can be added at all. Certification bodies have a vested interest in maintaining separate organic standards as they all scramble for market share and attempt to see off their competitors. Retailers may also seek to provide their backing for a particular organic standard for a perceived market advantage over retailers who choose to use a different certification standard that has a weaker public (brand) profile. The wine sector and consumers have an equal interest in seeking harmonisation of regulations so that when a customer buys a bottle of wine off the shelf that it is labelled as "organic" that consumer knows exactly what that means. This provides customer certainty and reduces producer costs as well as potentially adding value. In this paper, we overview the potential for growth in the organic wine sector, discuss some of the recent developments in this field and suggest potential OIV involvement in the development of an international organic wine standard.