Dear Karen: I am thinking about starting a wine import business. What do I need to do to get started? I would imagine there are health requirements for importing wine into the United States market. What literature or books can I read on this topic?

Answer: Contact your local Alcoholic Beverage Control agency (usually a state office) for information on licensing. Importing wine, even if it is not for sale, usually requires a liquor license. You’ll want to legally register your brand name and your labels so you get intellectual property protection for them.

Shipping alcohol or other imported products into the country typically also requires a customs broker, who works to complete the forms and pay duties on goods to the U.S. Customs Bureau on behalf of its clients. The U.S. Customs Service has good information available for would-be importers on its website, http://www.customs.ustreas.gov, and it also publishes a booklet called “A Basic Guide to Importing”, which can be purchased for under $10 from Amazon.com.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 7:22 pm and is filed under Exports/Imports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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