Wine Law

URUGUAY AND WINE: CURRENT SITUATION AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK 509 Article 12 of Law 18.462 – replacing article 11 of Law 2.856 of 17 July 1903 (regulated by Decree 488/89) – refers to analytical methods and analytical dissidences. Under this article, it is possible to analyse the national and imported products and analytical discrepancies to be carried out in laboratories that, in INAVI’s opinion, meet the requirements for the performance of such analyses. Article 12 reiterates what was already in force regarding dissidence in the Mass Isotopic Relationship Laboratory, which is performed on the sample held by INAVI. It is also stipulated that the existing database for the purpose of performing the isotopic ratio analysis by means of the mass spectrometer equipment is reserved to INAVI. Finally, under article 16, anyone (natural or legal) engaged in the fractionation of wine, cider or other wine products must register with IVANI, a Register that has the power of inspection and control of compliance with the regulations and penalty application. 3. WINE AND ALCOHOL LEVEL LEGISLATION One of the sector’s main problems has been alcohol tolerance and its regulation by the different consecutive governments. The zero-tolerance to alcohol is one of the main difficulties regarding general consumption, as well as tourism and gastronomy. Despite scientific evidence that zero-tolerance has no impact on traffic accidents, some sectors’ political lobbies have managed to ignite the controversy since, in most countries, there are minimum tolerances to be considered to achieve a fair balance between tourism, health and wine consumption. Nowadays, some factors at stake are freedom of individuals, harm to oenology and harm to gastronomy and tourism. In the comparative legislation, it is possible to find that the countries with the highest consumption have higher tolerances in order to allow the mentioned balance – in Spain and France, it is 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, in Italy, it is 0.8 g/l and in Hungary and Uruguay, it is 0.0 g/l. The World Health Organization recommends sanctions above 0.5 g/l, with scientific argument establishing that zero-tolerance does not exist. Biological factors can alter this parameter, so it is an issue still to be resolved in Uruguay, where the debate is ongoing.