Establish a liquor business in Vietnam

Trading in alcohol is on the list of business lines with conditional business investment. Organizations and individuals want to establish a liquor business to start their wine and alcohol business activities but they do not know how to do it. So, how do you establish a liquor business?

Dossier of application for a liquor business license

The application for a business license will be made according to Decree 105/2017/ND-CP.

Business individuals who want to start their liquor business need to prepare a business registration dossier, include the following requirements:

• Identity card, citizen identification card, passport notarized copy for individuals, etc. of the owner or representative of the business;
• Certificate of company registration, establishment decision, or equivalent document proving legal status;
• An application for a business registration license;
• List of shareholders who own shares or contribute capital to the liquor business;
• Charter of the liquor business.

Submit the application to the Business Registration Office

After completing the preparation of the application, the applicant brings the application and submits it to the Investment Registration Office of the Department of Planning and Investment.

Normally, businesses will be granted a license after 3-5 days after submitting a valid application. However, in case there are problems in the application, the business registration agency will reply in writing with the reason to the applicant.

Disclose company information on the Vietnam Government Web Portal

The prescribed time limit for a business to publish the contents of its registration of company information is 30 days from the date of its establishment license. Specifically, after being granted a business registration certificate, the business’s founder must make a public announcement on the Web Portal on business registration according to the order and procedures and pay fees as prescribed. Announced contents include 

• Business lines; 
• List of founding shareholders;
• Shareholders are foreign investors for joint-stock companies.

Failure to comply with regulations on content and time limit, the liquor business will be fined depending on the seriousness of the violation from 1 million VND to 2 million VND.

Apply for a license to produce and trade alcohol 

In case the business founder registers for the business of producing alcohol, it is necessary to make an application for a license to produce alcohol according to regulations before going into production and business. Liquor licenses are usually valid for about 5 years. Consequently, businesses need to pay close attention in order to comply with the regulations and avoid being penalized.

Licensing authority and licensing procedures

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is the agency that has the authority to issue a Liquor Production License with a scale of 03 million liters/year or more and licenses for alcohol distribution.

The Department of Industry and Trade is the agency that has the authority to issue a Liquor Production License with a scale of fewer than 03 million liters/year and the license to wholesale alcohol in the provinces and centrally-run cities.

The Economic Division or the Economic and Infrastructure Division under the district-level People’s Committee is the agency that issues the license to produce craft alcohol for business purposes, and the license to retail alcohol in the area.

Term of liquor business license

The term of the Industrial Liquor Production License is 15 years.

The term of the License to produce craft alcohol for business purposes, the License to distribute alcohol, the License to wholesale alcohol, and the License to retail alcohol is 5 years.