Guidance

Importing, selling and labelling wine

Requirements for importers, retailers and wholesalers selling and labelling wine in Great Britain.

Importing wine

You do not need to provide a VI-1 certificate if you are importing wine:

  • into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)
  • from the EU to Northern Ireland

You will need to provide an EU VI-1 pro-forma if you’re importing wine from outside the EU directly into Northern Ireland.

Paying tax on imported wine

Find out what tax and VAT you need to pay for wine imported into Great Britain.

Labelling and selling wine imported from EU and non-EU countries to Great Britain

Wine that you import into Great Britain must be labelled with the address of the importer or bottler, or both. You can use the EU importer or bottler’s details until 3031 SeptemberDecember 2022.2023.

If your wine was produced in the EU before 1 May 2021 it can be:

  • labelled with the address of an importer or bottler based in the EU, Great Britain or Northern Ireland
  • sold by wholesalers until 1 May 2023
  • sold by retailers until stocks run out

If your wine was produced from 2 May 2021 it must be labelled with the address of the GB importer or bottler. It cannot be labelled with thean EU address as the responsible importer or bottler.

Labelling wine in Northern Ireland

If you’re marketing wine in Northern Ireland, you must use the name and address of the importer or bottler (if it’s a bulk import) that is based in the EU or Northern Ireland on the label.

Published 31 December 2020
Last updated 1821 FebruarySeptember 2022 + show all updates
  1. Updated the imported wine labelling guidance. GB labelling changes have been delayed from 30 September 2022 until 31 December 2023.

  2. Updated because you no longer need a VI-1 to import wine to Great Britain or from the EU to Northern Ireland.

  3. First published.