Vietnam: From March 22, 2020, traders that produce spirits of at least 5.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) are required to obtain a license

Trade in spirits is included in the list of conditional business lines. Spirit traders shall comply with regulations of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcoholic Beverages of Vietnam and Decree No. 105/2017/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government.

According to Clause 1 Article 16 of Decree No. 17/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government amending Article 4 of Decree No. 105/2017/NĐ-CP on rules for spirit management, traders that produce spirits on industrial scale, traders that produce spirits for business purpose using traditional methods for business purpose, distributors, wholesalers and retailers of spirits having at least 5.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) are required to obtain a license.

Moreover, traders that trade in spirits having at least 5.5% ABV for on-premises consumption and traders that trade in spirits having less than 5.5% ABV are required to register their sale with the Office of Economics or district-level Office of Economics and Infrastructure.

Households and individuals that produce spirits having at least 5.5% ABV using traditional methods and sell them to holders of the spirit production license for re-preparation are required to register their production with People’s Committees of communes where the production facilities are located.

Moreover, during the distribution, wholesaling and retail of spirits, traders shall comply with regulations of the law on environmental protection, food safety and fire fighting and prevention. During the sale of spirits for on-premises consumption, traders shall comply with regulations on fire fighting and prevention and environmental protection.

Besides, Decree No. 17/2020/NĐ-CP also specifies that every spirit trader shall declare spirit products, except for the case in which households and individuals produce spirits using traditional methods and sell them to holders of the spirit production license for re-preparation purpose. Procedures for product declaration shall comply with regulations of the law on food safety and applicable relevant legislative documents.

View more details at Decree No. 17/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, effective from March 22, 2020.

Thu Ba

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