FIVS is a world-wide organization designed to represent all sectors of the wine, spirits and beer industries. Its members include producers, distributors, importers, exporters and trade associations. FIVS interfaces on behalf of its members with many international organizations. FIVS was founded in July 1951 and our headquarters is in Paris, France.

FIVS is pursuing a strategic initiative on “sustainable development” focused in the wine sector.

This initiative, applying sustainable environmental principles to the global wine sector (“The Global Wine Sector Environmental Sustainability Principles” - GWSESP), recognizes that the continued health of the wine industry rests entirely on natural resources, namely:

• solar energy
• an appropriate climate
• clean water
• healthy soils
• the successful integration of these elements within sound ecological tenets

These principles embrace the concept that the protection and the development of these natural resources by practices of sound sustainable development are an imperative.

Programs based upon the same sustainability principles as FIVS, which lends international credibility to each program include:

• USA - California Sustainable Winegrowing
• ZA - Integrated Production of Wine (South Africa)
• NZ - Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand
• AU - Australian Wine Industry Stewardship Programme.

All these sustainable winegrowing programs incorporate the same principles of satisfying the triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social sustainability, among other sustainability principles as described in the FIVS Global Wine Sector Environmental Sustainability Principles (GWSESP) Brochure.