Reissue alcohol business license in Vietnam

Alcohol is a commonly used product in life, and it is also one of the commodity products when trading requires a license. Understanding and grasping relevant regulations on alcohol business is always a matter of concern. In the following article, Viet An Law will summarize the regulations on re-issuance of alcohol business license.

Legal basis

• Decree No. 105/2017/ND-CP regulating alcohol production and trading, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 17/2020/ND-CP;
• Decree 98/2020/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Decree 17/2022/ND-CP on sanctioning administrative violations of counterfeit goods production and trading activities.

Alcohol regulation

According to the provisions of Article 3, Decree No. 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented by Decree 17/2020/ND-CP, alcohol is determined as follows:

• Alcohol does not include: Beer of all kinds; Fermented juices of all kinds have an alcohol content of less than 5% by volume.

Types of alcohol license

According to the provisions of Section 3 of Decree No. 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Decree No. 17/2020/ND-CP, there are the following types of alcohol trading license:

·       Industrial alcohol production license;

·       License to produce craft alcohol for business purposes;

·       Alcohol distribution license;

·       Wholesale alcohol license;

·       Alcohol retail license;

·       License to sell alcohol for on-site consumption.

Conditions to be met when selling alcohol to be licensed in Vietnam

Conditions of wholesale sale of alcohol

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 12 of Decree 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented by Decree 17/2020/ND-CP stipulating conditions for wholesale alcohol business, including:

• Being an enterprise established in accordance with the provisions of law.
• There is a wholesale alcohol system in the province or centrally-run city where the enterprise is headquartered with at least 01 alcohol retailer. In case an enterprise establishes a branch or business location outside the head office for alcohol trading, a certificate from the alcohol retailer is not required.
• There are written introductions or principle contracts of alcohol producers, alcohol distributors or other wholesale alcohol traders.

Alcohol retail business

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 13 of Decree 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented by Decree 17/2020/ND-CP stipulating conditions for alcohol retail business, including:

• Being an enterprise, cooperative, union of cooperatives or business households established in accordance with the provisions of law.
• Have the legal right to use a fixed business place with a clear address.
• There are written referrals or principle contracts of alcohol producers, alcohol distribution merchants or alcohol wholesale traders.

Conditions for the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 14 of Decree 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented by Decree 17/2020/ND-CP stipulating conditions for retail alcohol business, including:

• Being an enterprise, cooperative, union of cooperatives or business households established in accordance with the provisions of law.
• Have the lawful right to use a fixed business place, clear address and have registration of on-site sale of consumer alcohol with the Economic Department or the Economic and Infrastructure Division of the district where the trader has his/her business establishment.
• Alcohol for on-site consumption must be supplied by a merchant who holds a license to manufacture, distribute, wholesale or retail alcohol.
• Where traders produce their own alcohol for sale for on-site consumption, they must obtain an industrial alcohol production license or a craft alcohol production license for business purposes as prescribed in this Decree.

Regulations on sanctions for selling unlicensed alcohol in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 25 of Decree 98/2020/ND-CP stipulates: A fine of from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of selling alcohol with an alcohol content of 5.5 degrees or higher for on-site consumption or trading in alcohol with an alcohol content below 5.5 degrees without registering with the Economic Department or the district-level Economic and Infrastructure Department as prescribed.

Thus, an unlicensed alcohol business will be administratively fined from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000. In addition, in the case of an organization trading alcohol without a license, the fine will be double the fine for individuals as prescribed in Clause 4 Article 4 of Decree 98/2020/ND-CP amended at Point b, Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree 17/2022/ND-CP.

It can be seen that selling alcohol without a license will cause the business owner to suffer legal consequences and affect the business process. The registration of a license for the alcohol business is considered an extremely important and essential issue in the alcohol business.

Who has the authority to reissue a alcohol business license

Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 25 of Decree 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Decree 17/2020/ND-CP, the authority to grant alcohol trading license is vested in:

• The Ministry of Industry and Trade is the agency issuing industrial alcohol production license with a scale of 03 million liters / year or more and alcohol distribution license;
• The Department of Industry and Trade is the agency issuing license for industrial alcohol production with a scale of less than 03 million liters/year and license for wholesale sale of alcohol in provinces and centrally-run cities;
• The Economic Division or the Economic and Infrastructure Division under the district-level People’s Committee is the agency issuing craft alcohol production license for business purposes and alcohol retail license in the locality;
• At the same time, this Article provides that the competent authority issuing a license has the right to grant, modify and supplement and re-grant such license.

Regulations on the re-issuance of alcohol business license in Vietnam

In case the license is reissued due to expiration

The term of the alcohol business license will last 15 years for industrial alcohol production license and 05 years for craft alcohol production license for business purposes, alcohol distribution license, alcohol wholesale license, alcohol retail license.

When their business license expire, traders can fully apply for re-issuance according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 27 of Decree 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Decree 17/2020/ND-CP.

Accordingly, traders must submit a dossier of application for re-issuance of a license 30 days before the expiry date of the license. Dossiers, competence and procedures for re-issuance of this clause shall apply as prescribed for new grants.

In case of reissuance due to lost or damaged license

In this case, traders shall comply with the provisions of Clause 2, Article 27 of Decree 105/2017/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Decree 17/2020/ND-CP to apply for re-grant as follows:

• A dossier of application for re-issuance (01 set) includes: An application for re-issuance according to Form No. 03 issued together with Decree 17/2022/ND-CP and the original or a copy of the granted license (if any);
• The licensing authority shall base itself on the trader’s recorded dossier and dossier of application for re-issuance of the license;
• The term of the license will remain the same.

In addition, Clause 3 of this Regulation also stipulates procedures for reissuance of license due to loss or damage:

• Merchants submit applications in person or by post or online (if applicable) to the licensing authority;
• Within 07 working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the competent state agency shall consider and re-grant the license according to Form No. 07 promulgated together with this Decree. In case of refusal to grant a license, a written response clearly stating the reasons therefor must be given. In case there is insufficient valid dossier, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the agency re-issuing the license must make a written request for supplementation.

If you need advice or learn more about the re-issuance of alcohol business license in particular and re-issuance of other license in general, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the best support.