2011 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Certification Requirements
Many countries require certification of compositional requirements for wine, which can act as an unnecessary barrier to trade, particularly when they do not relate to a health or safety issue in relation to wine, or when the exporting country already has adequate systems in place to address such issues.
Noting that the Mutual Acceptance Agreement already provided that routine certification should not be required between parties for oenological practices, this same approach was extended with the Certification MOU to compositional aspects of wine that are not defined as oenological practices.
The Certification MOU facilitates international trade in wine, by providing that routine certification of wine composition should not be required other than on health and safety grounds consistent with WTO rules, as well as requiring that any certification must be in line with Codex standards.