Protecting producers and consumers of environmentally-friendly wine: an Australian legal perspective

Purpose and Methodology: This paper addresses misleading and deceptive conduct in the Australian wine industry regarding the use of eco-labels by undertaking an analysis of Australian consumer protection. Theoretical perspective: Climate change has serious implications for the international wine industry. Increasing temperatures and pollution derived from forest fires can harm grapes, and possibly cause long-term irreparable damage to vineyards. One approach to address this issue is to use sustainable winemaking techniques, which are said to improve the quality of wine. It can be argued that labelling wine as being environmentally-friendly may create a competitive advantage for wineries. An opportunity for wineries to make false claims regarding the environmental credibility of their wines therefore arises. The solution to this problem lies in providing consumers with a legal mechanism to determine if the wine they have purchased is produced using the environmentally friendly methods as stated on the eco-label. Findings and Implications: Misleading and deceptive conduct related to eco-labels for wine is not as yet a significant problem in Australia. There is little case law that specifically addresses this issue. However, it is possible that in the future, as more wineries embrace sustainable winemaking methods and the market for them grows, that the number of cases addressing this issue may increase, creating opportunities for future research.