Things to Know About Importing Wine

If you are traveling abroad and decide to ship wine or other alcoholic beverages home, there are some things you need to know about U.S. Customs regulations and the FDA. While most personal shipments of wine are easily cleared into the country, there are a number of hoops you may be required to jump through, and as always, knowing ahead of time can save you frustration and even the loss of your shipment.

Let's talk about your shipping documents first. Whether you are shipping a bottle or a case, there are some details you will need to supply on your airway bill and your commercial invoice. Don't let the term "commercial invoice" scare you. It is the generic name for the invoice you are going to create to accurately describe the goods you are shipping. On your commercial invoice you will want to provide the following details.

Quantity of goods (1 case of wine is not 1 case, it is 12 bottles!)

Value per each item

Type of wine (typically red, white, or sparkling)

Alcohol content by percentage

Shipper's name and address

Receiver's name and address

Solid contact for both shipper and receiver

Manufacturer name and address, if different than the shipper

Now lets look at a couple of those details, because they're critical. Quantity and value per item are pretty much no-brainers. An invoice must include them. Type of wine and it's alcoholic percentage will be needed Stateside for both the FDA and U.S. Customs. Your wine vendor will gladly provide these details to you if you're unsure.

Shipper's and receiver's name and address. Lets talk about that for a minute. Often, while traveling abroad, you will pick up gifts and souvenirs to send home. There could be a couple of different scenarios in this case, and it will be of value to address them. If you are sending your wine home to yourself, obviously, you are going to be the receiver, also known as the consignee. Well, are you going to be home by the time the shipment clears U.S. Customs and gets delivered? Just as importantly, are you going to be available to answer any questions U.S. Customs or the FDA needs for the clearance process?

If you're shipping a gift to someone, will they be able to provide some of the details you've missed on the invoice? Also, sometimes a wine shipment requires formal entry with Customs, and this can result in the receiver being required to provide social security information. You can read more about that here-

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2478982/why_does_us_customs_want_my_social.html?cat=46"

If you bought your wine in New Zealand right before you departed for Sydney, will your carrier be able to contact you? I always suggest you provide an email address on your paperwork when shipping stuff home from abroad. I know, I know, the last thing you want to be doing while traveling is checking your email, but popping in occasionally to check your messages could be very important!

Lastly, if the shipper is different than the manufacturer, try to include the winery's name and address on the invoice. You don't need it for the airway bill, but there is one thing I want you to do on your airway bill that could make or break your successful wine import.

Unless your wine is destined for a California delivery, do NOT let your shipment be routed through California. I understand you have only limited control over that. Logistics companies use very complicated and specific routing for goods, based on the most economical travel lanes, however...

If your wine is not to be delivered in California, on the airway bill, in the description box for your goods, write-

DO NOT ROUTE THROUGH CALIFORNIA

In caps, yes. The reason for this is because every major port in the nation interprets U.S. Customs regulations based on their best judgement and California has some pretty stringent guidelines for importing wines. It makes sense when you consider the powerful California wine industry and it's associated lobbyists! Because California has more regulatory restrictions on wine imports, anything you can do to avoid routing your shipment to California, assuming it isn't destined there, will help you have a more pleasant experience. Personal shipments of wine are pretty easily cleared by U.S. Customs outside of California, though I still strongly suggest that you create good documentation to accompany your package through its import process. I will write about some ways to get personal shipments of wine to California in a new article to be released soon!