VIDEO: Trade agreements to deliver more wine to grocery stores

Wine lovers will likely see an international selection in BC grocery stores, but the changes won't come quickly. That conclusion from lawyers at Doak Shirreff in Kelowna.

They have put together a concise article on how grocery store sales of BC wine became a pawn in a larger international trade negotiation, and what the expected changes mean for everyone involved.

"For me it was important to unpack exactly what that meant," said articled law student Nikita Gush, at Doak Shirreff. "Because there's a lot of issues going on and a lot of interpretations of what that means for BC wineries."

Co-author, and Doak Shirreff partner, Dennis Ryan said it means that if the new NAFTA (USMCA) deal is fully ratified by all three parties, wine lovers here will end up with more choice at grocery stores. "They likely will," said Ryan, "in the future."

Ryan said Canada gave up domestic exclusivity in grocery stores as a concession in the NAFTA talks. But he said it should mean more selection for consumers. "It means other countries can now access these licences and make their own agreements with grocery stores and sell their wines."

Save On Foods President Darrel Jones told KelownaNow that regardless of legislation, he remains committed to BC wines only in his stores, but Ryan and Gush expect that won't be the case for all grocery chains. They don't believe it will hurt the BC Wine industry, but it may be tougher for owners of some private liquor stores.

"People going grocery shopping will pick up the wine probably within the grocery store," said Ryan, "and will not be going in the same shopping centre into a private liquor store in order to get their wine. So that is going to be the biggest impact, I feel."

Wine lovers anxious to see foreign wine choices in grocery stores will have to wait for a while, however. If approved, the new USMCA doesn't start to go into place until the end of the year. Meanwhile the legislative changes will also take a while to sort out here in BC after that.