The Ministry of Industry and Trade established procedures for licensing
of liquor production and trade pursuant to Government Decree No
94/2012/ND-CP.
It issued Circular No 39/2012/TT-BCT on December
20, 2012 to replace Circular No 10/2008/TT-BTC issued in July 2008,
which took effect on February 2.
Under the new rules, before
distributing alcoholic beverages, a producer must now submit to
authorities, along with the application for a production licence,
documents concerning trademarks and conformity with technical and food
safety standards.
Organisations and individuals engaged in
small-scale liquor production in a liquor trading village will be exempt
from the licence requirement.
However, the liquor trading
village or an organisation representing it must apply for licences for
the entire village and take responsibility for compliance with statutory
conditions, including product standards prescribed by the Ministry of
Health.
Under the new circular, trade licenses are classified into three types: distribution, wholesale and retail.
Applicants
for wholesale licences must submit documents regarding transportation
and product storage to ensure liquor quality during warehousing and
shipping.
Liquor production and trade enterprises are also responsible for periodic reporting to authorities.-VNA