Like other branches within the food sector, Belgian viticulture is also subject to food safety legislation. Thus, winegrowers are also regularly inspected by FASFC employees to check whether all imposed food safety procedures are being followed meticulously.
Unfortunately, unlike in many other sectors, we do not yet have a legally correct and well-structured sector guide in Belgian viticulture. Over the years, we did collect the main HACCP guidelines for wine growers, but after an analysis by a specialised agency, it appears that these documents are incomplete and partly outdated. Moreover, they lack a logical structure that gives winegrowers sufficient guidance to prepare for an inspection.
On completion of this analysis, it appears that the cost of a fully-fledged sector guide for Belgian viticulture would be €10,000. In order to create an identical tool in the two main national languages and thus be able to impose a correct and uniform working method at national level, a translation cost of around EUR 2,500 would also be required.
Given the limited resources available to the NPO, this is not financially feasible for us. Although we have enjoyed financial support from the Flemish government's Agriculture and Fisheries Department since 2021, this support is linked to a number of specific tasks and cannot be used for the creation of a sector guide.
Specifically, therefore, we are seeking one-off financial support in the amount of 12,500 euros for the creation of an up-to-date, complete and effective sector guide to Belgian viticulture in two national languages.