Canadian rye whisky makers have something to celebrate.

The new Canada-South Korea Free Trade Agreement means they’ll have access to one of the world’s largest spirit markets minus the existing 20-per-cent import tariff and without fear of cheap knockoffs turning potential drinkers away.

It is “historic,” says Jan Westcott, president and chief executive officer of Spirits Canada, the industry’s only national trade association.

“For us this is a huge opportunity,” he says, pointing to an industry that has struggled through the recession and lost 50 per cent of its exports to South Korea in the year after the U.S. free trade deal came into effect. The U.S. had its own free trade deal with South Korea.

“We just weren’t competitive,” Westcott says.

But now the industry’s on the rebound.

Spirits are worth more in Canadian exports than beer, cider and wine shipments combined, making up nearly 70 per cent of total international alcoholic beverage exports. Exports were up 20 per cent in 2013 from the previous year.

And Korea, says Westcott, is an ideal market for Canadian whisky.

With more than 50 million consumers, it’s a “spirits-focused alcohol social culture” and one of the top 10 largest global whisky markets.

Once the new agreement comes into effect, the whisky tariff will be eliminated and Canadian whisky recognized as a distinct geographic product.

In Concord, Ont. the agreement is welcome news for Barry Stein.

Stein is the co-owner of Still Waters Distillery and several months away from a fresh batch of rye whisky.

Most Canadian whisky is made of corn with “a bit of aged rye grain spirit,” he says, while, “what we’re producing is 100-per-cent rye grain and it’s very unique.”

Both are uniquely Canadian brands with distinctive tastes, which is why the trade agreement’s new geographic recognition is being heralded as important by Canada’s whisky makers.

By formally and legally recognizing the terms “Canadian whisky” and “Canadian rye whisky,” the trade agreement — which still must be put in legal text, a process that could take several months, and ratified by both countries’ parliaments — effectively blocks the sale of products using the Canadian names unless they’re authentic.

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“The temptation to trade on the reputation of our products is quite strong the further you get (away from Canada),” says Westcott. Beyond simply blocking the sale of fake products, the agreement will also enable legal action against anyone selling knock offs in South Korea.

“In many countries we don’t have that and it’s extremely important,” Westcott says.

“We lose two ways when people commit that kind of fraud. We lose the sale, but more importantly that’s not real Canadian whisky in the bottle. If somebody drinks that — ooh that’s terrible — then we lose that opportunity to have that person as a customer because they drank something they believed as ours but wasn’t and it was terrible.”