Wine Importing

[hotwine]

Jane, I did indeed look into importing years ago, but gave up due to complexities of federal and state laws.... that's why I've remained silent on the question.

When I looked into it more than 10 years ago, I found that an importer could not be a wholesaler, nor a retailer (at that time.... don't know about now). The importer was required by the BATF to have a federal import license, a bonded warehouse in which to store wines at the port of entry, a fleet of vehicles used to transport the wines that were not used for any other purpose, bonded employees who only worked the import business... it went on and on. And each employee, storage facility and vehicle required an annually renewable license. And that was just at the federal level. State requirements were add-ons to those, with their own annual fees, inspections, etc.

The movement of alcoholic beverages is seen as a taxing opportunity by state and federal governments at each stage of the business. I lost my appetite for the whole endeavor.

Anyone looking to set up such a business should really start with the state's alcohol control commission, and move from there to the federal level. If I wanted to do it now, I'd hire a lawyer who specialized in import law.

As to costs..... easily low six figures with unlimited upside, depending on storage, labor force, vehicles, etc. I no long have the patience required to deal with so many functionaries.

[This message has been edited by hotwine (edited 03-24-2009).]