China: Top 10 improvements

20th February, 2013 by db_staff

1. CHINA CUSTOMS: CHANGE FROM PERCENTAGE-BASED TO VOLUME- BASED TARIFF

wine-in-china Current customs duties for wine add up to around 48% of declared value, plus the cost of shipping and insurance. The effect of a percentage-based tariff is to encourage the importation of cheap wine as the cheaper the declared value is the less impact the tariff will have on the wine’s final cost. This policy has been a boon for wine producers making €1-2 bottles (HK$10-21) of wine, but ultimately helps flood the market with cheap, barely quaffable plonk.

Switching to a volume-based tariff would discourage the importation of cheap wines and open up the market for mid-priced, high-quality wines. It would also open up an appropriate place in the market for low- priced, quality Chinese wines. Doing so would be a win-win as revenue would not be lost by the customs bureau, but the overall quality of wines would increase.

Share134

Share16

One Response to “China: Top 10 improvements”

H says:

February 21, 2013 at 10:09 am

Fine article about habits and traditions. How often do you see people drinking wine in China? is it really possible that consumption has reached 1L per capita? Or the statistics refer only to imports of wine, which no one knows whether it was sold? is wine consumption going to rise as much as press says?

Reply