Import wine to Vietnam: 2022 Comprehensive guide on tax, labeling and custom clearance

Find out how to sell or import wine to Vietnam, you will have to acquire an alcohol license for labeling in order to operate your business legally.

The acts of importing wine to Vietnam is a whole story, if you are trying to do it, but don’t know what procedures to follow, we will guide, advise and provide free and comprehensive details to carry out procedures for importing wine as well as announcing products to the market. Wine is considered as a special items when importing to Vietnam. In order to import wine to Vietnam from Australia, UK, Europe and or USA, it is necessary to go through a process of doing import and export customs procedures, however, the paperwork is quite complicated and sometimes it became a headache because simply, wine item requires a lot of specialized sub-licenses, so it is managed very closely from the input licensing stage to the post-inspection stage during the circulation of goods. Therefore, businesses that want to import wine and liquor must build their own business strategy as well as a detailed plan and estimate the time to complete the legal procedures for sub-license. The following article will help you better understand the procedure for importing wine to Vietnam market.

Legal regulations on importing wine into Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 20 of Decree 94/2012/ND-CP dated November 12, 2012 of the Government regulating the production and trading of alcohol for importing wine includes finished wine bottled, boxed or barrels for immediate consumption. Alcohol in the form of auxiliary materials and semi-finished liquor must have documents for legally imported alcohol according to current regulations and comply with the provisions of Article 15 of this Decree on stamping imported alcohol. According to the provisions of Article 14 of this Decree on imported alcohol, goods must be labeled and includes other relevant regulations. Enterprises with a license to trade and distribute alcohol and wine can directly import them to take responsibility for food quality and safety.
Enterprises importing wine accessories and semi-finished products used to make finished wine may only be sold to enterprises with licenses for alcohol production. If an enterprise has a license to produce industrial wine nd or alcohol, it is allowed to import it directly or is allowed to entrust the import of auxiliary and semi-finished alcohol to prepare it into final produced wine. Imported alcohol must register a declaration of conformity with the competent authority before being imported and be issued with a “Notice of results certifying that food has met import requirements” for each consignment according to current regulations. For alcohols and wines that are imported to Vietnam through international border gates. In addition to the documents presented to the customs office when carrying out import procedures, the enterprise must also present a paper appointing or authorizing to be a genuine distributor or importer of the manufacturer or an agent contract of the manufacturer.
] In short, to import wine, you’ll required to prepare and submit with following documents:

  • Lading bill or certificate
  • Commercial invoice
  • Certificate of origin of the wine
  • Value statement
  • Cargo release order
  • Inspection report
  • Import declaration form
  • Terminal handling receipts
  • Technical standard/health certificate
  • Packing list

Wine Import Tax in Vietnam

How much are wine import tax in Vietnam? First of all, you’ll need to know that Vietnam defines (HS), Harmonized System for such a commodities, including wine. The HS code determine to be able to define the import tax, VAT and other taxes (if any). Documents related to importing wine according to Decree 94/2012/ND-CP on research on wine production and trading, regulated through Circular 60/2014/TT-BCT. Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP: detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety for wine, taxes are quite high, here is details:
  • Import Tax or CIF: 50%
  • Special Consumption Tax (SCT): 25%
  • Value Added Tax (VAT): 10%
Please note that import duties must be paid beforehand and once the shipment is confirmed. To import Wine TO Vietnam which is subjected under food and beverages category, the tax rate will be determined under Decree 94/2012/ND-CP dated 12/11/2012 by Government on wine production and wine trading. Value-added tax: In addition to being subject to consumption tax and import tax, wine businesses are also subject to 10% value-added tax. After completing the procedures to import the product and distribute it in the Vietnamese market. The enterprise notes that partners who comply the right to retail wine products at stores must have a liquor retail license. Note that periodic inspection of products should be carried out in accordance with regulations: If the license is valid for 5 years, it should be checked every 6 months and the periodic inspection is once a year.

Apply for a license to distribute wine from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade

To be able to import wine liquor products directly to Vietnam, enterprises must have a liquor distribution license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Unlike normal alcohol products, upon customs clearance, enterprises only need to present a food declaration issued by the Food Safety Department. Wine products upon customs clearance, in addition to being announced, enterprises are also required to have a license to distribute and import wine to Vietnam. The imported products belong to the list of manufacturers approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the license sheet.

Labeling regulations and carry out customs clearance procedures

Stamping after customs clearance: For wine products after the goods are cleared, enterprises must apply stamping for each product. Stamps are issued by the General Department of Customs. Enterprises can only import through international border gates, they must have a power of attorney to be allowed to distribute products in Vietnam. with the Company (Performing consular legalization procedures).
Import tax: According to the current tariff, wine products are classified in subheading 22.04 or 22.05 with a tax rate of 50%. Finally, the special consumption tax: According to the current excise tax schedule, gold wine products have the following tax rates.