Chinese customs officials have continued to detain more Australian wine at ports of entry this year, while sales to China have plunged as Australian trade authorities consider ways to negotiate the release of shipments. Last month, more than 8,000 litres of red and moscato wines from Australia were detained in Shenzhen alone – on the grounds of inadequate labelling and the excessive use of additives. That came after more than 23,000 litres of wine, including popular Penfolds wines, were similarly detained there in January. A further 11,000 litres were then detained in February. The detention of Australian wine shipments in customs clearing zones, keeping them out of China, has been ongoing since November, when China informally banned them after having initiated an investigation into the dumping of cheap Australian wine in the Chinese market in August. Upon concluding its investigation in March, China imposed anti-dumping duties of between 116.2 per cent and 218.4 per cent on Australian wines in containers of up to two litres. The combined impact of these two measures has crushed Australia’s wine exports to China. Australia’s wine industry association, Wine Australia, said in a new export report on Thursday that the total value of wine that had managed to clear Chinese customs between December and March was A$12 million (US$9.3 million) – a fraction of the A$325 million total from the same period a year prior. For the year to March, the report said the total value of all Australian wine exports globally declined to A$2.77 billion (US$2.15 billion), a drop of 4 per cent compared with the prior year, and this was mainly driven by “the toll taken by high Chinese tariffs”. While China remains Australia’s top wine export market, the value of mainland Chinese imports dropped 24 per cent in the 12-month period to March, to A$869 million. While much smaller than before, the mainland Chinese market remains twice the size of Australia’s second-biggest market, Britain, at A$461 million. Australian wine traders eye spirits to ‘survive’ crippling disruptions in China trade As Australia’s wine exports to China have fallen, those to Britain surged by 33 per cent in the same 12-month period, Wine Australia said. Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said the growth in exports to Europe had been significant, with the value of shipments reaching their highest level in a decade. There was also growth in exports to the US, Clark said, noting that if exports to China were excluded, Australia’s overall wine exports in the 12-month period to March would have posted growth from a year prior. Australian trade authorities have said they are hoping to engage with the Chinese side in an attempt to clear detained wine shipments and discuss the anti-dumping duties. We are examining all available mechanisms to resolve these matters, including through bilateral and World Trade Organization (WTO) processes Australian trade department spokeswoman While there has been no confirmation of the government’s next move, a spokeswoman with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said they were consulting the Australian wine industry, as well as state and territory governments, about the anti-dumping duties and clearance delays for Australian wine at Chinese ports. “We are examining all available mechanisms to resolve these matters, including through bilateral and World Trade Organization (WTO) processes. Our first preference is always to work with China directly on a resolution,” the spokeswoman said, declining to be identified. Australia has not yet made a decision on whether to lodge a complaint over the wine anti-dumping duties at the WTO as Canberra has done with barley . China imposed anti-dumping duties of 80.5 per cent on Australian barley in May.