New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has convicted and fined Boutique Wines director Joyce Austin NZ$6,000 ($4,122) for procuring deceptive and false wine documentation related to products being exported to Ireland.

Austin was sentenced in the Auckland District Court after previously pleading guilty to one representative charge under the Wine Act. She was fined for falsifying documents between March 2013 and May 2014.

Several small wineries associated with the offence contracted Austin as a wine exporter. She obtained false wine export applications from them with regard to the 45.5 cases of wine that were meant to be used as samples at sales events in Ireland.

“Every wine exporter has a duty to ensure their operations do not contravene any relevant requirements of the Wine Act.”

According to the MPI, Austin advised her clients to record their wine samples as already certified for export to expedite the process.

The Ministry for Primary Industries compliance investigations manager Gary Orr said: “Every wine exporter has a duty to ensure their operations do not contravene any relevant requirements of the Wine Act.

“They must only export wine which meets correct standards and specifications and overseas market access requirements. This includes only exporting wine which complies with the export eligibility requirements.

“The wineries involved received formal warnings from MPI as it was determined that they had, until that point, been compliant and were acting on professional advice from Joyce Austin who misled them over the legality of what she was asking them to do.”

Orr further added that Austin knew she was breaking the law.