THE GOVERNMENT
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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence – Freedom – Happiness
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No.: 105/2017/ND-CP

Ha Noi, 14 September 2017

DECREE
ON TRADE IN ALCOHOL

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated 19 June 2015;

Pursuant to the Commercial Law dated 14 June 2005;

Pursuant to the Law on Food Safety dated 17 June 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on Investment dated 26 November 2014;

At the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Government promulgates this Decree on trade in alcohol.

Chapter I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Decree regulates alcohol trading activities, including production, importation, distribution, wholesale, retail and on-premise sale of alcohol. It does not apply to export, temporary import for re-export, temporary export for re-import, border-gate transfer, transit, duty-free shop import, transactions in non-tariff zones, bonded warehouse activities, or alcohol imported as luggage, movable property, gifts or samples within tax-exempt or non-taxable limits.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Decree applies to alcohol traders and organizations and individuals involved in alcohol trading.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

Alcohol means a food-grade alcoholic beverage produced by fermentation, with or without distillation, from grain starch, plant or fruit sugar solution, or prepared from food-grade ethanol. It excludes beer and fermented fruit juices with alcohol content below 5% by volume. Industrial alcohol production means production using industrial machinery and equipment. Manual alcohol production means production using traditional tools without industrial machinery. Semi-finished alcohol means unfinished alcohol used as input material for finished alcohol. On-premise sale means selling alcohol directly to buyers for consumption at the selling location.

Article 4. Principles of alcohol management

Alcohol trading is a conditional business line. Industrial production, manual production for commercial purposes, distribution, wholesale, retail and on-premise sale of alcohol require licenses under this Decree. Manual producers selling alcohol to licensed industrial producers for reprocessing must register with the commune-level People’s Committee.

Article 5. Quality and food safety

Alcohol subject to a technical regulation must be declared conformable and registered before market circulation. Alcohol not yet covered by a technical regulation must be declared compliant with food safety requirements until the relevant technical regulation is issued and takes effect.

Article 6. Stamps and labeling

Alcohol produced for domestic consumption and imported alcohol must bear stamps and goods labels as prescribed, except manual alcohol sold to licensed industrial producers for reprocessing and imported semi-finished alcohol. Imported semi-finished alcohol is not required to bear alcohol stamps.

Article 7. Prohibited violations

Prohibited acts include trading alcohol without a license or beyond licensed scope, using substandard alcohol for production, lending or leasing licenses, trading alcohol of unknown origin, counterfeit alcohol or smuggled alcohol, selling alcohol to persons under 18, selling alcohol of 15% ABV or higher via the Internet, and illegal advertising or promotion.

Chapter II. ALCOHOL TRADING

Articles 8-15. Business conditions

Articles 8 to 15 provide conditions for industrial alcohol production, manual production for commercial purposes, manual production for sale to industrial producers for reprocessing, distribution, wholesale, retail, on-premise sale and importation. Key conditions include lawful enterprise/cooperative/household registration as applicable, lawful business premises, product quality and food safety compliance, environmental and fire-safety compliance, technical staff for industrial production, lawful supply contracts and distribution/wholesale/retail systems according to the licensed model.

Article 15. Importation of alcohol

An enterprise holding an alcohol distribution license may import finished alcohol and is responsible for the quality and food safety of imported alcohol. An enterprise holding an industrial alcohol production license may import or entrust importation of semi-finished alcohol for producing finished alcohol. Imported alcohol must bear labels and stamps, complete conformity or food-safety declaration, and undergo state food-safety inspection before customs clearance. Alcohol may only be imported through international border gates. Alcohol samples for declaration purposes may be imported up to 03 liters per label and must not be sold on the market.

Articles 16-18. Rights and obligations

Licensed producers and traders must buy and sell lawful-origin alcohol, display valid license copies at trading locations, trade within licensed scope, comply with reporting duties, stamps, labeling, food safety, environmental and fire-safety obligations.

Articles 19-24. Licensing dossiers

The Decree specifies dossiers for licenses for industrial production, manual production for commercial purposes, distribution, wholesale, retail and on-premise sale. Dossiers generally include an application form, enterprise/cooperative/household registration, food-safety or conformity documents, premises documents, supplier contracts or introduction letters, distribution/wholesale system documents where applicable, product lists and labels, and commitments on fire safety and environmental protection.

Articles 25-30. Competence and licensing procedures

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, Departments of Industry and Trade, and district-level economic agencies issue licenses within their competence. Procedures cover submission, validity check, supplementation, appraisal, grant, amendment, reissuance, license content, validity, revocation, fees and charges.

Chapter III. STATE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Articles 31-38

These articles prescribe responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, related ministries, provincial People’s Committees, Departments of Industry and Trade, district-level People’s Committees and commune-level People’s Committees in guiding, licensing, inspecting, managing stamps, food safety, reporting and handling violations.

Chapter IV. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 39. Reporting regime

Alcohol producers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and on-premise sellers must submit periodic reports using the forms enclosed with the Decree. Local authorities consolidate reports on alcohol production and trading in their localities.

Article 40. Effect

This Decree takes effect on 01 November 2017. Decree No. 94/2012/ND-CP on alcohol production and trading ceases to be effective from the effective date of this Decree.

Article 41. Implementation responsibility

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of Government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial People’s Committees, alcohol traders and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Decree.

APPENDIX

(Enclosed with Decree No. 105/2017/ND-CP dated 14 September 2017 of the Government)

Form list: Form 01 – Application for license; Form 02 – Application for amendment/supplementation of license; Form 03 – Application for reissuance of license; Form 04 – Registration of manual alcohol production for sale to licensed industrial alcohol producers for reprocessing; Form 05 – License; Form 06 – Amended/supplemented license; Form 07 – Reissued license; Forms 08 to 12 – reporting forms for alcohol production, distribution, wholesale, retail, on-premise sale and local authority reporting.

Note: This English text is a reference translation for operational understanding only and is not an official legal translation. When using forms for submission, enterprises should cross-check the original Vietnamese PDF/DOC and applicable amendments.