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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Abridge Contact: Bennett Caplan at 240.486.1390
bcaplan@abridgebev.com

Visit us at: http://www.abridgebev.com

ABRIDGE CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY AT THE UNIFIED WINE & GRAPE SYMPOSIUM
An International Regulations Database that is Meeting Global Demand

SACRAMENTO, California, January 22, 2018

Abridge (http://www.abridgebev.com), a comprehensive interactive online resource for regulations and international agreements for wine, celebrates its 10th year this week, since the initial launch at the 2008 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium.

The database is for anyone with an interest in the international alcohol beverage trade sector. Subscribers can easily locate and compare in one place international regulations and an otherwise bewildering array of multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements.

"When Abridge was introduced, it was the first fully searchable database for international wine regulations and agreements," said Greg Hodson, Abridge’s Board of Manager’s Chair. "Over the past 10 years, the site has grown impressively to become an indispensable tool for compliance professionals in the industry, government regulators, professors, students and others with an interest in this area."

Here are just a few of the strides we have made over the last 10 years:

  • Markets: Abridge began with a focus on the regulations for the top 10 wine import and export markets, including the United States, the European Union and Australia. Today, it contains information on over 35 markets and enables users to easily access wine-related regulations and agreements in English translations and in their original languages. It not only features the most up-to- date regulations, but also serves as a repository for older versions.
  • Topics: Abridge focused originally on labeling and production rules and standards. Over the past decade, additional key topics, such as tariffs, taxation, composition, methods of analysis, and the promotion and marketing of wine are now included and continually expanded.
  • Industry and Market Reports: Abridge contains a treasure trove of market and industry reports, a comprehensive list of key national and international contacts, and information on allowable additives and processing aids in key wine producing countries.
  • Trade Agreements: While the site initially had an option to access some international wine treaties, it now includes multilateral and bilateral agreements for a multitude of countries, including the most significant pacts.
  • Features: When first launched, FIVS Abridge offered innovative features such as "trade scenarios," allowing users to obtain relevant legal information for trade between selected markets, and a comparison tool, enabling users to view side-by- side the same regulatory and trade agreement data for different countries and/or regions. Abridge now provide tips on particularly complex rules via explanatory notes and hover-boxes, a tool allowing for a comparison of current texts with the previous versions, and many other exciting features.
  • Collaboration with APEC Wine Regulatory Forum: Abridge currently serves as a repository for wine regulations for the Asia-Pacific region with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Wine Regulatory Forum dedicated to regulatory cooperation and the facilitation of the wine trade.
  • Collaboration with the World Wine Trade Group: Abridge also serves as a regulatory repository for the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG), a group of government and industry representatives from eight wine-producing countries.
  • As a result of these collaborations, 23 governments currently have access to the product in exchange for supplying updates to their regulations, providing Abridge users with critical and timely information on key markets.

While celebrating 10 years, FIVS is working to extend the capabilities of the product in the future:

  • Regulations will be added from additional markets, including from key African countries.
  • Regulatory topics will be increased to include taxation (e.g., excises, value added taxes, etc.).
  • Market coverage will be expanded for technical topics, such as methods of analysis.
  • Information will be included from standard-setting organizations, such as Codex Alimentarius.

Abridge is overseen by Abridge LLC, located in Bethesda, Maryland and is constantly updated with new regulatory developments.

Annual subscriptions are $5,000. For a free 15-day restricted trial offer or to subscribe to the service, contact Laurel Parker, Manager, Abridge, 7409 Beverly Road Bethesda, MD 20814. Phone: 843/324-7612; e-mail: lparker@abridgebev.com

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