Wine import procedures

Wine, foreign wine, and other specialties have become an integral part of daily life. Importing alcohol into Vietnam is becoming a very popular business. However, in order to import wine effectively, mastering the wine import procedure is crucial. The article below will share with businesses in detail the necessary steps and important points that you need to pay attention to.

Legal policies when carrying out wine import procedures

According to current regulations, wine is not on the list of items prohibited from export or import. Therefore, businesses can carry out wine import procedures in accordance with regulations.

According to Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP issued on April 25, 2012 of the Government, specific regulations on the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety: “Food safety management is carried out in the entire process from production, processing, preservation, transportation, to export, import and trade in products such as wine, beer, beverages, processed milk, vegetable oils, flour and starch products, cakes, jams, confectionery, as well as product packaging, within the scope of management.”

Therefore, wine is on the list of imported products that need to be checked for quality, technical standards and food safety before customs clearance. This inspection responsibility belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, according to Decision No. 3648/QD-BCT dated 08/09/2016, and enterprises need to comply with this specialized inspection according to the current regulations.

HS code for imported wine items

Wine hs codes are classified in chapter 22, group 04.

HS Code	Description of goods
2201	Water, including natural or artificial mineral water and carbonated water, without added sugar or other sweeteners or flavorings; ice and snow.
2202	Water, including mineral and carbonated water, with added sugar or other sweeteners or flavorings, and other non-alcoholic beverages, excluding fruit juices or vegetable juices of heading 20.09.
2203	Beer produced from malt.
2204	Wines made from fresh grapes, including strong wines; grape hemp except for heading 20.09.
2205	Vermouth and other wines made from fresh grapes have been infused with herbal or aromatic flavors.
2206	Other fermented beverages (e.g., apple wine, pear wine, honey wine, salmon); mixtures of fermented beverages and mixtures of fermented beverages with non-alcoholic beverages, not specified or elsewhere.
2207	Undenatured ethyl alcohol with an alcohol concentration of 80% or more by volume; Ethyl alcohol and other spirits, which have been denatured, in all concentrations.
2208	Undenatured ethyl alcohol has an alcohol concentration of less than 80% by volume; spirits, liqueurs and other alcoholic beverages.
2209	Vinegar and vinegar substitutes are made from acetic acid.

Wine import tax rates

Based on the import and export tariffs, there are the following tax rates:

Preferential import tax: 50%-55%

Value Added Tax (VAT): 8%

Special preferential import tax with C/O form D (from Southeast Asian countries): 0%

Special preferential import tax with C/O form E (from China): 0%

Special preferential import tax from Japan: 65%

wine-import-procedures

Dossier for issuance of wine distribution license

Enterprises importing alcohol need to have a wine distribution license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. To apply for a license, enterprises must prepare a complete set of documents including the following documents:

Business registration certificate of the enterprise.
Inventory of warehouse equipment.
The legal documents of the 3 establishments are distribution agents.
Warehouse lease contract.
Certificate of eligibility for environmental conditions.
The certificate of meeting the fire prevention and fighting criteria.
Confirmation of the balance in the company’s account, with a minimum of VND 1 billion.
Application form for permit.

Note that the license is valid for 5 years. Businesses need to pay attention to the periodic inspection schedule for their shipments to ensure regulatory compliance.

Procedures for announcing quality standards

Carrying out the procedure for announcing quality standards is an important step in the process of importing wine. The steps to check product quality at the Department of Food Safety for Wine include:

Step 1: Prepare complete legal documents:

The set of legal documents that enterprises need to prepare includes:

The business registration certificate or investment certificate includes the food business line and specifically the alcoholic beverage business.
HACCP or ISO 22000 (If applicable).
Testing issued by the manufacturer: If the test is carried out by an independent laboratory certified by ISO 17025 to fully verify the criteria for alcoholic beverages QCVN 6 – 3 : 2010/BYT

Step 2: Product testing (In case the manufacturer cannot provide valid test results in accordance with Vietnamese law).

Testing at accredited independent laboratories or at designated testing centers with ISO 17025 certification. The inspection criteria for wine include:

Main quality indicators

Name of the indicator	Units of Calculation	Publication level
Ethanol (alcohol) content at 200C	% V/V	….
Methanol content	mg/l	≤ 400
Total SO2 content	mg/l	≤ 150

Step 3: Register an account to submit documents published on the Website: congbosanpham.vfa.gov.vn.

Enterprises register accounts and submit dossiers to be published on the website of the System for issuance of certificates of declaration of conformity and certificates of declaration of conformity with food safety regulations (vfa.gov.vn)

Step 4: Draft the dossier and submit the dossier through the granted business account.

After registering an account, the enterprise submits the application through the enterprise account that has been granted.

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Wine import process

A customs dossier for wine import includes:

Commercial Invoice
Packing List
Bill of Lading
Certificate of Origin (Applicable when the importer wants to enjoy preferential import duties)
Other documents (if needed)
Declaration of conformity
Wine Distribution License

The process of importing wine, as well as other items, is specified in Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC issued on March 25, 2015 and has been amended and supplemented according to Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018.

Step 1: Customs declaration

After preparing all the necessary documents according to regulations such as contracts, invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, certificates of origin (if any) and determining the wine HS code, you will enter the declaration information into the customs system through specialized software.

Step 2: Open a customs declaration

After completing the declaration, the customs system will channel the declaration. If your declaration is channeled, you need to print the declaration and bring the dossier to the customs sub-department to carry out the procedures for opening the declaration. The next steps will depend on the channeling result (green, yellow, or red channel).

Step 3: Customs clearance of goods

After checking the dossier and there are no problems, the customs officer will receive the customs clearance of the declaration. You can pay import taxes (if any) and complete customs clearance procedures for goods.

Step 4: Transport goods to the warehouse

After completing the customs clearance procedures, you proceed to liquidate the declaration and carry out the necessary procedures to transport the wine to your warehouse and ready for use.

Wine Product Labels

Imported goods must have full labels according to current regulations.

The product label should clearly display the following information: Product name, name and address of the organization or individual responsible for the product, country of manufacture, and other necessary information depending on the type of product.

Above is the latest updated wine import procedure that businesses can refer to to import wine into Vietnam quickly and conveniently. For more information or to receive detailed advice, please contact HDG Logistics.