Hong Kong Bans French Wine Imports

The Hong Kong Government is set to announce a full ban on the import of French wines into the territory on the grounds of unfair competitiveness. This will come as a shock to drinkers and lovers of French wines while importers are expecting a rush on French wine stocks currently stored in the city.

A spokesman for the government Dai See Fat told Wine Times over the weekend; “It’s not fair on other countries that French wines take such a large proportion of the market. Therefore, we are going to ban, until further notice all imports of wine from France”.

“Our consultation panel, made up of local importers of Spanish, Italian and New World wines have set out recommendations to stop the flow of French wine into the city and we are proposing a full National Education plan to educate drinkers on wine from other countries beginning in September 2013”.

French wines enjoy a huge following in the city with Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy the front-runners in the popularity stakes, whilst French wines account for almost half of the Hong Kong consumption market. The move to ban French wines will ignite a huge ‘black market’ for the wines with already high price tags for such wines set to at least double.

French wine lovers will not be smiling after the ban takes effect

Underground wine trader Ho Wan Lo said he was very happy with the government’s decision to ban the import of French wines as he is set to heavily increase the prices of the French wines he has in stock – which amounts to over 100,000 bottles currently stored in a non-disclosed location. He did however tell us that he was conscious about getting caught selling the wines as the proposed penalties are extremely heavy.

The government is to set up an undercover task force to stake out, arrest and prosecute illegal sellers of French wines with penalties ranging from fines of HK$1 million to a minimum of 8 years in prison. There are currently no plans in place for what to do with the wines that are seized although rumours are that they will be confiscated and stored in a network of underground cellars in the Kowloon Tong district.

Zhong Shi Mao, chairman on the Alcohol Rehabilitation and Suppression Enterprise welcomed the move saying; “This is a good day for Hong Kong people. The Devil himself hides within bottles of French wine and the ban will see a country more stable and harmonious”. He also expects to see the crime rate falling with less arrests for drunken disorderly and a larger church following on weekends.

Mr. Jacques Grenouille of the Societe de Hongkong pour Importer aux Terminaux expressed his disgust at the decision. “This is an absolute disgrace and abomination”, he told us on the phone this morning. “We French are lovely happy people and we are extremely aggravated by the decision, something that is completely against our nature. In France, we love the Chinese, there are many Chinese restaurants and we’ve even learned how to use chopsticks”.

Millions of bottles of French wine currently pass through Hong Kong annually.

“We will certainly be looking into the legality of the decision and, on behalf of the Hong Kong people, talking to the International Court of Human Rights as we believe this decision is against the human rights of Hong Kong people. What’s next after the wine ban? Foie gras? Brandy? We all appalled and will be speaking to our local government representative on Tuesday morning”.

As Wine Times took to the streets on Sunday to ask people what they thought of the ban, there were mixed reviews. Mick Barbie, an Australian expatriate living in Hong Kong for over 10 years said; “Bloody right mate, for too long these guys have been taking up all the market which is a bloody disgrace, considering us Aussies don’t even know where France is – but on the plus side more people will now be able to drink and enjoy our national wine Yellow Tail”.

A local man, who wished not be named was furious as we told him the news. “Dieu!” he said. “Gow cho wah, how can our government do this to us? I only drink Bordeaux and now I will have to spend more money on my mistress in Shenzhen as I will be there every night to drink my Lafite and sing karaoke”.

Local bars, clubs and restaurants in the city are already looking for alternatives to Champagne citing Cava and Prosecco as the only possible alternatives. Auction houses too are looking at ways to continue the current popularity in auctions where the majority of wines sold are French. Considerations are taking place to re-locate to Singapore, or to continue in Hong Kong but not allow local bids for French wines.

It’s yet to be seen what kind of impact the government’s decision will have but certainly there will be many unhappy Francophiles in the city. Only time will tell if the ban will work, but we expect to see heightened tensions between the local Hong Kong government and their French counterparts in the coming weeks.