Wine & Spirits Sector Committee

General information

Wines and Spirits Sector Committee represents the biggest international companies in the wines and spirits sector in Vietnam. We focus on common interests of our members including market access, tax, policies, marketing, intellectual property, food safety and alcoholic beverage social policies. The Wine & Spirits Sector Committee cooperates with local and national authorities on promoting self-regulation and good citizenship. In addition, the committee represents the sector in assisting, discussing, and negotiating with the authorities regarding issues such as taxation, importation and distribution, marketing, and so on.

State of purpose

The purposes for which W&S SC is formed are:

Promote understanding of the EU wines & spirits industry to European & Vietnamese decision-makers, notably of its vital economic role.
Defend the freedom to produce and market EU wines & spirits in a responsible way by securing appropriate legislative conditions for production, marketing, distribution and sale of wines and spirits in Vietnam.
Secure no discriminatory treatment of wines & spirits in comparison to other local alcoholic beverages.
Secure free and fair access to Vietnam markets.
Encourage the industry to implement high standards for marketing communications.
Stimulate responsible drinking across Vietnam.
Identify and share good practices across Vietnam with those involved in harm-reduction prevention programmes.
Implement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in Vietnam which focus on:

a) Education and awareness in responsible drinking and tackling alcohol misuse and harm;
b) Reducing under-age drinking;
c) Tackling drinking and driving;
d) Enhancing industry practices regarding the marketing and sale of alcoholic beverages; and
e) Activities that support other relevant objectives of the National Alcohol Policy (NAP).

Comply with Vietnamese Competition laws and regulations:

a) Each attendee and the company, he or she represents is under obligations not to reduce competition. These prohibitions apply to W&S SC’s members and its activities regardless of market share).
b) Specifically, the following practices, but not limited to, are prohibited:

Restrictive trade practices such as colluding with competitors;
Cartel conduct:

a. price fixing: agreeing to fix, maintain or control prices;
b. market sharing: agreeing to allocate customers, suppliers or territories;
c. restricting output: agreeing to restrict, prevent or limit output in a production or supply chain; or
d. bid rigging: agreeing which parties will respond to a tender and/or the price they will bid.