The wine industry uses refractometers to assess the quality of wine grapes bought from growers. These instruments do this by measuring the sugar content in wine grape musts.
The policy for use of these instruments for trade in the sugar cane industry is:
- NMI has not specified pattern approval and verification requirements for these instruments.
- No compliance action will be taken for the supply or use of non-approved and non-verified instruments.
- No guidance document will be developed to support Australian Wine Research Institute's industry code of practice.
We'll continue to review the policy by:
- collecting information on industry performance under the code of practice
- using a risk-based approach to weigh positive and negative effects of over- and under-enforcement
- using evidence-based decision-making
- acknowledging that courts decide whether any conduct breaches measurement legislation.