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PARIS β The French government will talk to Russian authorities in coming days about the labeling of champagne in Russia as sparkling wine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in the Senate on Wednesday.
He said that Russiaβs new champagne labeling law is a protectionist initiative and that France will act on a European level to protect its wine producersβ interests. He also reiterated that France is ready to take the case to the World Trade Organisation.
Moscow plans to force champagne producers to add the designation βsparkling wineβ to their products sold in Russia and has adopted legislation requiring the βsparkling wineβ label be added to bottles of foreign fizz, while Russian producers of the local version, βshampanskoye,β do not have to add the label. (Reporting by GV De Clercq; editing by Jonathan Oatis)