Members would be aware of two recent articles in the paper that discussed the issues around technical standards. The Technical Standards Project Group met during the Annual Conference.

The Australian Taxation Office have recently published Excise Ruling ER 2023/1 – Excise: the meaning of ‘legally and economically independent’ on their webpage. A Ruling Compendium has also been published and is available.

National Distilling Institute (NDI) seeks Australian-qualified Trainers and Assessors who want to work with the NDI to teach Certificate IV in Artisan Fermented Products (Distilling).

Many members would be aware of the success of many Australian Distillers receiving awards at the recent San Francisco World Spirits Competition. This is the largest and most prestigious spirits competition in the world. It is built on a solid reputation they have developed over 43 years.

Some tips and an offer from one of our 2023 Conference sponsors Midland Insurance.

Today, Australian Distillers CEO, President, Vice President, and Chair of the Technical Standards Committee, held a meeting with a member who has been using the term “Single Malt” to describe a product.

A message from one of our 2023 Conference sponsors FIVE x 5 Solutions.

On behalf of the Members of Spirits and Cocktails Australia and the Australian Distillers Association, we register our appreciation at the ongoing engagement by Departmental officials regarding Australia’s Free Trade agenda. We receive useful and timely advice about the status of negotiations, and a receptive audience to the key priorities for our industry, as Australian-made spirits and pre-mixed spirits beverages look to expand their exports into new and emerging markets.

A reminder that the Early Bird rate for the 2023 New Zealand Distillers' conference closes this Friday 28th April.

The recording of the webinar is now available.

FSANZ’s proposal for labelling includes the mandate that energy units (in kJ and Cals) for BOTH the 100ml measurement and the serving size must be labelling, and notes that voluntary labelling in the EU must be done in 100ml serves.

Along with Spirits and Cocktails Australia, we wrote to the Assistant Treasurer regarding our concerns about the correct application of taxation to alcohol beverage products, including new products, and brought to his attention the possibility that some products may not be classified correctly for taxation purposes.