RESEARCH PAPER NUMBER: X29
RESEARCH PAPER MNEMONIC: XCULT
RESEARCH PAPER NAME: Cultural in Alcoholic Trade
DRAFT AUTHOR: Dan Sheahan
Material traits such as food habits, occupations and industries are examples of culture facts. In the three selected cases, an alcoholic product is the "culture fact" that carries connotations for each country rooted in centuries of prideful tradition. For Peru, a certain liqueur called Pisco, has been an integral ritualistic component to their culture. The Germans lay claim to the origins of beer-brewing and accordingly, are very particular about the ingredients used to make the beer they consume. France, boasts a rich tradition of wine-growing that translates into firece pride in their wine industry. The importance attached to wine in France is manifested in a strict and elaborate regulatory schema at the domestic level and contributed to the establishment of wine regulation at the European Union level. Each of these products and their industries hold considerable cultural significance in their respective countries. These products make up a part of the country's cultural heritage which the members of each generation receive from preceding generations and pass along to the generations that follow. Wine in France, Beer in Germany, Pisco in Peru are all encompassed in each country's body of custom, their characteristic way of life. Aesthetic appeal by which these products are regarded as national symbols and vestments of ritual amplify their importance beyond any purely economistic assestment of worth.
Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, custom and any other habits
acquired by man as a member of society. The symbolic aspects of culture are stressed by
anthropologist, Leslie White:"Culture is an organization of phenomena -- acts (patterns of
behavior); objects, (tools, things made with tools);ideas (belief, knowledge); and sentiments
(attitudes, values) -- that is dependant upon the use of symbols." Because of it's symbolic
charachter...culture is easily and readily transmitted from one human organism to another."
Culture is the sum total of the ways in which human beings live, transmitted from generation to
generation by learning. The essential core of culture consists of traditonal (i.e., historically
derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values. Culture is therefore meaningful
to humans because of its symbolic quality. The fundamental basis of culture is found in the
human mind, and the physical manifestations have meaning only in terms of these mental patterns.
Elements of culture that are so deeply embedded in a particular society often times foster an environment unreceptive to change. The variety of elements included in culture can range from relations between people in groups to man's work activitites involving natural materials. Certain professions are particularly venerated in country's where the product in question is a symbol of pride. The VineWine case offers a case in point. The viticultural industry is reluctant to modernize the process of wine-making. As sociologist, John Gillin points out, The deliberate adaption of a new element depends upon its simplicity, the degree to which its superiority to elements in current use is obvious, and the sentimental or other resistance its adoption encounters. In many cases the new invention or discovery meets emotional resistance because its adoption would disturb the old relations or institutions about which their exists more or less of sentiment. The opposition to rational changes in family arrangements, economic organization and governmental procedures arises in part from the fact that these institutions are grounded in sentiment and tradition. Beer, for Germans, is another product which carries significant symbolic weight. As a result, Germans did not want to have to adapt their beer industry to rules with which they were not accustomed.
The two cases already mentioned, VineWine and GermBeer, represent two-thirds of the most prominent types of alcoholic products in the beverage industry. The third case analyzed, concerns Pisco, a product which falls under the third main type of alcohol, "spirits." The cases were chosen because they cover the basic range of alcoholic products and also involve the countries most associated with each specific product.
Pisco is as Peruvian as llamas and arroz con pollo. A Peruvian meal is not complete without a pisco sour. "The pisco sour is a cocktail made with a shot of pisco, a sprinkle of sugar, a bit of egg white and a splash of lime juice, then either blended or served over crushed ice, with a dash of bitters." However, pisco's future has been marred by trade dispute with Chile over its namesake.
The Europeans, upon arriving in this part of South America, craved their native brandies. "Through trial and error they found a grape called the Quebranta produced a pure, highly potent, aromatic brandy which eventually became known by the port from which it was exported to grateful drinkers abroad: Pisco."
By the nineteenth century, a scourge of phylloxera (plant lice) eradicated many Peruvian vineyards which were replaced with cotton and other fruit crops. "While the Argentine and Chilean topographical boundaries of mountain, desert, sea and ice proved to be natural palisades against the spread of the pest not so in Peru. Political and economic upheavals took their toll in the twentieth century.
While a trade war is not likely to break out, there is a growing trade dispute between Peru and Chile over who had the right to use the name pisco. "Peruvians hold a deep-seated national pride in pisco, which they make from the cream of the grape harvest and have been drinking at parties and rowdy peasant festivals for more than 400 years." Chilean pisco has already found small export markets in the United States and Europe. Peruvian exporters are hampered by hyper-inflation and an unfavorable exchange rate. "Peru is planning action under international patent agreements -- the same ones that guard copyrights over everything from computers to pharmaceuticals -- to keep the pisco name exclusively for Peru." In theory, other brandy-like liquors made from grapes or chicha could possibly substitute although there is no substitute for cultural heritage.
Pisco has been part of Peruvian culture for over 400 years. To allow the elimination of suitable grapes or permit a lesser version of it would abolish part of a culture and society. Pisco is part of a traditional Peruvian meal. Pisco production has been passed from generation to generation and is a ritual in many families. The government promotes pisco as being Peruvian, using the slogan "Pisco es peruana" (Pisco is Pervian) on its culture crusade in Peru and the rest of the world.
Would-be beer exporters to Germany and environmentalists rebelled for decades against the German beer purity law or Reinheitsgebot (originally enacted in 1516), which permitted only four ingredients in the beverage: water, hops, barley, and yeast. Germans claimed that the law protected public health from harmful additives and public interest from misrepresentative advertising. Though officially lifted in 1987 after an EC ruling, the purity law's tradition continues in Germany.
Beer is generally an alcoholic beverage manufactured in five stages requiring malted barley, hops, yeast and water. The first stage involves malting young barley; secondly, the brewer extracts soluble malt with water. Next, the brewer boils the malted barley for flavor, creating "wort." This substance is then fermented with yeast, and finally clarified, matured and drawn off to be sold as literally thousands of types of beer.
Some brewers substitute rice, maize, sorghum, or other, most cost-effective raw cereal for barley in the initial stage. The German beer purity law, or Reinheitsgebot, allows no such substitutes. Based upon Bavarian custom, an official law was first enacted in 1516 then modified in March 1952 (Bundesgesetzblatt, or federal law) and September 1980 (Zollaenderunggesetz, or Customs Law Amendment). It originally exclusively allowed the sale of beer with three ingredients (water, hops,and barley) but was later revised to allow yeast.
The term "beer" carries with it certain distinct cultural connotations. Although some evidence indicates that Egyptians may have brewed a beer-like beverage before Christ and that other civilizations passed down the tradition, most modern cultures credit 16th century brewers in Bavaria, Southern Germany, to have originated or at least modified the drink to its modern form. Beer remains central to German culture, as Germans consume more than 3 billion liters of beer annually, or more than 300 liters/capita, the highest in the world.
Foreign competitors had complained for decades about the unfairness of the German law and an almost identical one in Greece (EEC case 176/84), demanding that it favored domestic manufacturers and denied foreign businesses access to profitable domestic beer markets, especially in Germany. The European Court of Justice ruled in March, 1987 that the German Beer Purity Law created intra- European trade barriers, in direct violation of the Rome Treaty (Article 30, banning protectionism). The Court ruled that the beer's alcohol content threatened public health more than any otherwise legal additive, and that Germany itself violated the law on occasion for public festivals without any apparent health damage. The Court forced a national repeal of the law to balance requirements within the then-EC, although it noted that domestic production requirements could remain in effect.
The repeal led to German consumer outcry, that lower- standard foreign products would be
allowed to invade their prized beer market. Foreign beer producers initially expressed only slight
relief, believing the market would continue to be largely impenetrable. More recently, the market
has expanded somewhat to include microbrewers worldwide, especially in North America,
who have adapted more traditional slow- and pure-brewing
techniques to emulate the German process and compete with German beer in both North America
and Europe.
The impact on trade is undeniable since the German beer market, the world's largest, is now open to brewers around the globe. Beer is a major feature in German culture, hence the long history and strict standards regarding its content. German "beer snobs" tend to disregard beverages not brewed according to the domestic Reinheitsgebot guidelines, but foreign brewers are beginning to find a niche in the German market.
Wine has been produced in
France for more than two and one- half millennia and has played a large role in French culture,
economy and dietary habits for centuries. Some two million French owe their livelihood directly
to the vine. The international role and influence of the French in the ways of wine remain
preeminent.(American Geographical Society of NY, Crowley '93) Wine has long been a beverage
of choice at mealtime, as demonstrated by annual per capita wine consumption, which peaked at
140 liters a year in the early 1950's.
A brief history of the wine industry in France is necessary to comprehend the magnitude of wine for the French, in both cultural and economic terms. In the mid-nineteenth century, plants were imported with no regard whatever to the possibility of introducing pests or diseases. The first discovery of pest infestation occurred in 1863 when an "unknown disease" surfaced in France. By the time the "disease" was identified and a remedy was implemented, almost half of France's vineyards had been wiped out. The French discovered that a certain root louse called Phylloxera was devastating their vineyards. The only available solution was to plant phylloxera resistant American and hybrid vines. The planting of these varities proliferated throughout France through the 1950's since they were productive and required less care than pre-phylloxera types. When the French government began addressing the problem of wine overproduction in the 1950's, one goal was to improve the composition of French vineyards. New plantings were forbidden without governmental permission;grape varities were classified by wine quality; and subsidies were offered to uproot vines. American varieties were subsequently prohibited and hybrids eventually had to be uprooted.
With continued excessive production, the government adopted the Plan Chirac between 1971 and 1973, which was designed to eliminate some vineyards and to modify others by replacing lower- quality, high-producing varieties with higher-quality, lower- yeilding ones. The introduction of the European Community meant that wine could move freely among member states. French surpluses were amplified by a large inflow of cheap Italian wines. Low- quality French wines found few buyers, and stocks piled up at the wineries. A French problem had become a community problem, and the Plan Chirac became the model for a community-wide response to the problem of wine surplus.
Overproduction has always been a phenomenon for the leading European wine-producing countries. France has historically reacted with conviction to all aspects of the problem. In 1907, riots and death resulted from grower protests over low prices, caused by too much wine on the market. Similar market problems in the 1930's led to the enactment of the Statut de la Viticulture, a legal code designed to help ensure supply-demand balance in production. In the 1950's when domestic per capita consumption was at its peak, France was producing more wine than the populace could drink. No other country a Plan Chirac for improving lower-quality, abundant-quantity producing regions. In 1975 a crisis arose due to free flow of wine throughout the European Community. Stockpiles were skying to embarassing heigths. The following year, the EC established a regulation, EEC 1163/76, that offered growers a subsidy for uprooting vines. Subsequent regulations raised the subsidy and required that vineyards not be replanted.
No other leading wine-producing country had such a high concentration of hybrid varieties as
did France in the 1950's. No other country devised a Plan Chirac for improving lower-quality,
abundant-quantity producing regions. No other wine bureaucracy matches the breadth and
complexity of the French one. The French experience is not singular however. The increasing
importance of the French premium varities, both in their traditonal areas and around much of the
rest of viticultural France, replicates patterns in many other locations. France has largely followed
the lead of other areas, especially California.
The surge in planting, especially the Bordeaux varieties in nontraditional parts of France, owes much to the examples set by other countries. Because of local tradition and actions of the French wine bureaucracy, diffusion afar preceded diffusion nearby, and the success of distant plantings prodded dispersal at home. Tradition and economic protectionism proved far greater barriers than distance.
In general, the adaptability of an industry steeped in archaic tradition based upon a long cultural legacy will be greatly challenged by the increasing technologization and globalization of international commerce. The wine industry has been told to decrease production by the European Community. The consumer market also demands greater efficiency, preferring better wines and consuming considerably less than before. A solution exists that would greatly aid French viticulturalists in their attempt to placate the demands of both law and market. Genetically engineered vine and grape production could revolutionize the wine industry. Even though the technology existsis available yet a cultural lag remains for vintners in France. Cultural considerations are particularly solvent in the wine industry. French wine growers and producers, coming from a very traditional industry, are slow to embrace technological innovation. A deeply rooted prejudice against scientifying' the process of making wine exists to a large extent in French wine-producing regions. There is a real aversion to the idea of replacing naturally produced grapes and vines with those of the transgenic variety. Anti- Science sentiments or latent fear for the new are not easily dismissed in the proud and symbollically rich wine industry.
| CATEGORY | PISCO | GERMBEER | VINEWINE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discourse & Status | DISs & ALLEGE | AGREE & COMPLETE | AGREE & COMPLETE |
| Forum and Scope | GATT & BI-LATERAL | EU & MULTI-LATERAL | EU & REGION |
| Legal Standing | TREATY | LAW | LAW |
| Type of Measure | INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY | REGULATORY STANDARD | SUBSIDY |
| Geographic Domain | SOUTH AMERICA | EUROPE | EUROPE |
| Product Sector | LIQUOR | FOOD | LIQUOR |
Discourse and Status
Two of the cases, GermBeer and VineWine, are completed agreements. Initiatives were proposed by the European Commission and disposed by the European Council. All member-states signed on to the regulation. Both cases ended up completed agreements, however the means to achieve the accord was coercive in the German case and voluntary in the French case. The Pisco case is based upon disagreement where an allegation was made by one country to another. The fact that the two Latin American countries involved in the dispute are not within an institutional framework such as the EU partly explains the case's unsettled status.
Forumn and Scope
The two cases involving European countries fall under the rubrik of European Community wide policy. The GermanBeer case is unilateral in scope because the EC ruling opens up the German market to countries beyond the European region as well. The VineWine case originated in France and became a model for European Union legislation. Germany was reluctant to make concessions on its traditioned beer purity laws, but was forced to comply with the wishes of the other EU countries due to a Court of Justice ruling. The problem of wine overproduction was less conflictual, even though France's position in the world wine market initially created the need for regulatory controls. Peru, the plaintiff, has approached the WTO to decide whether a product standard must be established to prevent Chile from using the name "Pisco" for their liqueur product. A WTO decision granting Peru the sole right to export a clear, brandy-like liquor under the name pisco would affect all members of the WTO. This case could set a precedent for additional countries to claim exclusive rights to a so-called cultural commodity.
Legal Standing
Both the GermBeer and VineWine cases are law-based. All EU states must follow Court of Justice decisions as law, which supersedes their own national and provincial law, according to provisions of the Rome, Paris, and Maastricht Treaties and the Single European Act, EU founding documents signed by and applicable to the 15 member states. The Pisco case is treaty based. Both Peru and Chile are members of the WTO and had agreed upon joining the GATT to abide by its rules.
Type of Measure GermBeer and VineWine are regulatory standards, while the Pisco case involves intellectual property rights. The standardized product concept for the former two cases deals primarily with products which are traded among EU member states. The EU requires that all product additive requirements be the same among member states to eliminate unfair competition and allow states to export their wares to neighbors within the Union. In the Pisco case, a product standard is pending the outcome of the trade dispute and will most likely be determined by the WTO. According to Godofredo Gonzalez del Valle, whose family has been making pisco for four generations, it is all in the stomp. "To make real pisco, you have to take your shoes off, crush the grapes and let it ferment in clay bottles. In Chile they make something called pisco, but it doesn't taste as it should." Chilean pisco is sweeter and slightly weaker that Peruvian pisco. "Only Peru has the soil, the climate, and the tradition in making pisco that give(s) our drink a special taste, and which allow(s) us to call it pisco", according to Jaime Alvarez Calderon who is in charge of Peru's multilateral economic negotiations office."
Geographic Domain GermBeer and VineWine involve the Western European countries that currently comprise the EU. In the former case, the primary affected party is Germany, who is required to modify its trade standards and allow what it had considered substandard products into the country. In the VineWine case, the countries most afftected are France as well as Italy and Spain, the three greatest wine-producing countries of the EU.In the Pisco case, two countries within the Andes region are directly involved in the dispute. Many countries export the product in question but no other countries produce "Pisco."
Product sector
All three cases are alcoholic in nature. The predominant types of
alcohol are represented here: beer, wine and liquor. Each product carries significant symbolic
meaning for their respective country. Beer and wine are widely recognized as synonomous with
Germany and France, respectively. Pisco is a specific type of liqueur that is not universally
known, but is a much cherished part of cultural pride in its country of origin, Peru. The peoples
of each country use these beverages to complement meals and celebrate joyful occassions.
Germans may drink wine over dinner, but beer generally remains their beverage of choice. Some
French occassionally opt for a beer with lunch yet wine remains the favorite drink most of the
time. Regardless of whether or not Peruvians imbibe in an alcoholic drink during dinner, the post
meal Pisco liqueur is an age-old tradition taken (and guarded) seriously.
The production and consumption of alcohol vary widely across national cultures. Such differences have been described by the anthropologist, Sulkunen, in terms of: the predominant type of beverage used (wine, beer or spirits), the main "use valves" for alcohol (food, intoxicant, adjunct to conviviality), and the level and distribution of consumption. Using the above definition, this analysis tries to demonstrate that each of the country's represented by the VineWine, GermBeer, and Pisco cases, were essentially arguing that the product in question holds special cultural significance for their respective peoples and must be weighed into the decision-making process.
France is the leading producer of wine in Europe as well as the leading per capita consumer in the world. The French government has solicited the European Commission to grant them preferential treatment in the matter of scaling back the EU's wine surplus on the grounds of wine's heightened cultural significance and economic importance in France. The European Commission's proposal asking that France cut output by 20% left France's agriculture minister "stupified." He insisted that France should be treated more generously than other countries where wine growing is decidedly less important economically, socially and environmentally. The French minister understands the economic implications that the EU proposals would have for the wine industry; yet, he also argued that the importance of wine for the French transcends quantifiable measure.
For Germans, beer is the country's cultural choice of alcoholic beverage. The Germans, as the highest per capita consumers of beer in the world, contested the ruling that banned the practice of prohibiting beer imports with ingredients other than those allowed under national law. The German goverment knows that the preference for beer is deeply immersed into German culture. The Germans are accustomed to producing and consuming beer with only the purest 4 ingredient formula. They hoped to protect this distinctly German cultural tradition since German beer is a great source of pride for Germany.
The last type of beverage mentioned by Sulkunen, 'spirits', is appropriate to the Pisco case in Peru. Chilean attempts to produce 'Pisco' are said to be inherently different than the liqueur produced in Peru, due to differences in climate and tradition between the two countries. Peru maintains that what is produced in Chile cannot be called Pisco, a term which must be reserved for the country of Pisco's origin and proper cultivation. Like the officials involved in the other cases, a Peruvian trade representative cited cultural reasons for having the dispute settled in their favor, as well.
Since these products are sources of intense nationalistic sentiment, change is only slowly embraced. Many German citizens are hesistant to endorse beer that deviates from their countries purity law. The consumer attitudes of the French are such that wines from other countries are little considered. The French slowly eliminated the non-French aspects of their wine industry(American rootstocks and hybrids) Peru wants "Pisco" all to its own. They claim their own distinctive "pisco" should be the exclusive variety. All of the regulations necessitate a great amount of attitudinal adaptation and cultural concession because these countries can no longer cling to the old ways in which they conducted business in their "sacred" industries. Law is leading the path to reform and each country's culture must adjust to the new realities.
Gofou Madinou, "Alcohol, Gender, and Culture," New York: 1992.
Bauer Donald, "Journal of Common Market Studies, May 1991. v52n3.
Dworkin Peter, "From wine and roses to grapes of wrath," US News & World Report, Feb 5, 1990.
"Sour Grapes,"The Economist, June 25, 1994.