U.S. Launches Trade Action Against BC Wine Grocery Model

The United States Trade Representative has announced this morning that the Obama administration has launched a trade enforcement action at the WTO against BC\’s wine in grocery store model. The details of the challenge are contained in this press release: United States Challenges Canadian Trade Measures That Discriminate Against U.S. Wine. The basis of the action is that BC\’s \”regular shelves\” grocery model discriminates against imported wines by allowing the sale of BC wines on regular grocery shelves but only permitting the sale of imported wines in a separate \”store within a store\” model. We will provide an update on this issue at the upcoming Wine & Liquor Law Conference in Vancouver on February 14th.