The Irish Whiskey Association has said that more international trade deals are key to the continued growth of the Irish whiskey industry.
Irish whiskey is currently experiencing a significant revival and is now one the fastest growing spirits in the world.
A total of 11.4 million cases (137 million bottles of Irish whiskey) were sold around the world last year.
While this was a slight decrease on 2019, it still exceeded expectations for what was a challenging year due to Covid-19.
In a new report, the Irish Whiskey Association said Irish whiskey exports have benefited from recent positive developments on the international trade front including the lifting of the 25% US tariff on Northern Irish single malts.
Further reductions to Canadian provincial levies on Irish whiskey as a result of the CETA agreement were also welcomed by the association.
Irish whiskey exports were also boosted by new protections for its geographical indication (GI) as a result of EU bilateral agreements with China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam, as well as the phasing-out of tariffs across the Southern African Development Community and in other markers including Colombia, South Korea and Vietnam as a result of EU trade deals.
William Lavelle, Head of the Irish Whiskey Association, said that looking to the future, the Irish whiskey industry can confidently target more growth in more markets, across more sales channels and among more consumer segments.
"But now, more than ever, international trade policy will be critical to supporting growth and diversification," he added.
Today's report highlights priorities for future trade deals, including a permanent end to all transatlantic trade disputes, building on recent positive developments.
It would also like to see reform of both the rules-of-origin for whiskey and territoriality rules in all EU and UK trade agreements to protect and facilitate the Irish whiskey industry's cross-border supply chain on the island of Ireland.
The report calls for inclusion of tariff reductions in both EU and UK trade negotiations with India, as well as the elimination of outstanding discriminatory levies and mark-ups in in Canada.
In recognition of Irish whiskey's prominence as an all-island industry, the report was jointly launched by Minister for State for Trade Promotion, Robert Troy and the UK's Minister for Exports, Graham Stuart.
Robert Troy said that as Minister for Trade Promotion, he continues to actively engage with business across sectors on fostering and developing its global trading relationships.
"The Government continues to work towards establishing new trade relationships with our global partners which hopefully will provide more market opportunities for our world-renowned whiskey producers," he added.
