Must Foreign-Invested Companies Importing Beer and Wine for Business Obtain a Business License?

Under current legal regulations, must a company with foreign capital importing beer and wine for business activities obtain a business license?

1. Must foreign-invested companies importing beer and wine for business obtain a business license?
1.1. Activities for which foreign-invested economic organizations are granted Business Licenses

(i) Exercising the right to retail distribution of goods, excluding goods specified at point c clause 4 Article 9 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP. Specifically, for goods being rice; sugar; recorded items; books, newspapers and magazines: consider licensing the exercise of retail distribution rights for foreign-invested economic organizations that have retail establishments in the form of supermarkets, mini-supermarkets, or convenience stores, for retail sale at those establishments.

(ii) Exercising the right to import and the right to wholesale distribution of goods specified at point b clause 4 Article 9 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP. Specifically, for goods being lubricating oils and greases: consider licensing the exercise of import rights and wholesale distribution rights for foreign-invested economic organizations carrying out one of the following activities:

– Manufacturing lubricating oils and greases in Vietnam.

– Manufacturing or being permitted to distribute in Vietnam machinery, equipment, or goods using special types of lubricating oils and greases.

(iii) Exercising the right to retail distribution of goods specified at point c clause 4 Article 9 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP.

(iv) Providing logistics services; except logistics service sub-sectors for which Vietnam has market-opening commitments in international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.

(v) Leasing goods, excluding financial leasing; except leasing of construction equipment with operators.

(vi) Providing trade promotion services, excluding advertising services.

(vii) Providing commercial intermediary services.

(viii) Providing e-commerce services.

(ix) Providing services for organizing bidding for goods and services.

1.2. Some notes

(i) The License for Establishment of Retail Establishments is granted to foreign-invested economic organizations for establishing retail establishments.

(ii) Foreign-invested economic organizations may request the License for Establishment of Retail Establishments after obtaining the Business License and documents on the location of the retail establishment.

(iii) Where the first retail establishment is located in the same centrally-governed province/city as the head office, the foreign-invested economic organization may request the Business License concurrently with the License for Establishment of the first retail establishment. The dossier and procedures are as prescribed in Article 20 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP.

(iv) Economic organizations falling under points b and c clause 1 Article 23 of the Law on Investment 2020 must satisfy conditions and carry out: procedures for the Business License when performing activities requiring a Business License; procedures for the License for Establishment of Retail Establishments when establishing retail establishments, as prescribed in Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP.

(v) An economic organization with retail establishments in Vietnam, after receiving capital contributions and becoming a foreign-invested economic organization, or an economic organization falling under points b and c clause 1 Article 23 of the Law on Investment 2020, must carry out procedures for the Business License and the License for Establishment of Retail Establishments.

The dossier and procedures for the Business License in this case are as prescribed in Articles 12 and 13 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP.

The dossier and procedures for the License for Establishment of Retail Establishments allowing the retail establishment to continue operations are as prescribed in Article 38 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP.

(Article 5 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP)

2. What are the bases for considering approval of a Business License?

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and line ministries base their consideration of approval of Business Licenses for cases specified in clauses 2, 3 and 4 Article 9 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP on the following:

(i) Conformity with sectoral and regional development master plans and strategies.

(ii) The progress of Vietnam’s market-opening negotiations.

(iii) Vietnam’s need for market opening.

(iv) Vietnam’s strategy for cooperation with foreign partners.

(v) Diplomatic relations, national security, order, and social safety issues for cases where the foreign investor is not from a country or territory participating in international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.

Frequently Asked Questions

What licenses does an FDI company importing beer and wine need? In addition to business registration with suitable business lines, the enterprise must satisfy liquor distribution conditions under Decree No. 105/2017/ND-CP (amended by Decree No. 17/2020/ND-CP), including wholesale/retail liquor licenses depending on the form of business.
Are there foreign ownership ratio restrictions? WTO commitments and specialized laws at the time of investment must be checked.