Spirits companies and trade associations worldwide are uniting to form the World Spirits Alliance (WSA); a global lobbying body that aims to represent the views of distillery businesses and their staff.
The WSA will be a “global voice” for the spirits industry, and will represent its interests before international organisations including the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN).
It will represent the spirits sector on a number of topics including tariffs, non-tarrif trade barriers, import quotas, licensing restrictions, product standards, marketing regulations, intellectual property and distribution.
So far, the WSA’s members include Spirits Europe, Asia Pacific International Wines and Spirits Alliance, Camara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera, Scotch Whisky Association, Association of Canadian Distillers, Pernod Ricard, Diageo, International Spirits and Wines Association of India, Japanese Spirits Liquor Makers Association, Brown-Forman, Distilled Spirits Council of the US, Spirits New Zealand, Rémy Cointreau, Beam Suntory, Spirits and Cocktail Australia, Campari and Edrington.
The group will also work to create more clarity over legal protection for spirits with geographical indications and work on new strategies to combat the illicit alcohol trade.
Rodolfo González González, from the Camara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera, who has been elected as first the WSA’s first president, said: “The aims of the WSA are to create a common platform for exchange and have a representative body that will allow us to comment on issues of global relevance, particularly in the areas of trade and regulatory policy, and help develop a positive environment for the sustainable success of the sector.”
