Chivas takes China newspaper to court

CHIVAS Brothers, which is owned by the world's second-biggest Scotch whisky producer, Pernod Ricard, has gone to court in China to rebut a front-page Shanghai newspaper story claiming the firm sells inferior, younger whiskies in the country labelled as 12-year-old Chivas Regal.

The firm and its sister company in China are demanding an apology from the International Finance News, which said almost all the 700,000 cases of 12-year-old Chivas Regal shipped to China each year were mislabelled, and have not been aged that long.

The claim is groundless, said a spokeswoman for Pernod Ricard (China) Trading Co.

"All Chivas Regal 12 sold in China is the same as the Chivas Regal 12 sold in the rest of the world," said Kathie Wang, saying the company has documents from the Scottish Whisky Association and various government bodies proving the drink is produced and labelled according to both countries' laws.

The International Finance News is standing by its story and has countersued, demanding an apology for alleged defamation, the paper's lawyer, Zhang Yi, told the Associated Press. Neither side is seeking damages, Zhang said.

Both sides submitted evidence during an initial hearing on Tuesday, he said.

Pernod Ricard recently revealed that sales of Chivas Regal were up 10 per cent in the nine months to the end of March as total sales of its spirits and wines rose two-thirds to 3.12 billion. The company also produces The Glenlivet.

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