How to Import Organic Japanese Tea to Vietnam

There isn’t even a single place in Vietnam where you won’t find a hot cup of tea. From weddings to ritual ceremonies, tea will appear because that’s how much Vietnamese love it. You will always find someone at “quán cóc” – the make-shift shops present on the roadsides of the Vietnam streets. At night, you will find large groups of people in tea houses enjoying their favorite cup of tea. As you can see, tea is quite renowned in Vietnam, so it won’t hurt to give Vietnamese something new. Organic Japanese tea will leave every Vietnamese spellbound. All you have to do is start importing organic Japanese tea to Vietnam.

Why should you import Japanese tea?

Japanese tea has been with us since the 8^th century, and since then, it has won the hearts of millions of people. Its spectacular taste, the freshness of the leaves, and the mighty quality leave everyone amazed, and that is why we emphasize importing Japanese tea to Vietnam. The people of Vietnam won’t cater to the tea that has an ordinary taste. They need something different. They need something that can satisfy their palates, and this is something that Japanese tea can do.

Japanese tea is one of the most consumed beverages globally because it has the perfect balance of color, taste, richness, quality, and flavor. Therefore, if you want to kick-start your own tea house in Vietnam, it’s time that you should start importing organic Japanese tea to Vietnam. But, how can you do that?

How to Import Organic Japanese Tea to Vietnam?

If you want to set up your own business in Vietnam, you may need to import various products to the country. Similarly, if you want to start your tea house, you’ll need to get it imported. Now, to do this, you’ll need to follow specific rules and regulations demonstrated by the government of Vietnam.

Registration, license permit, and legal entity requirements

In Vietnam, there is no obligation on any company to have a separate import license in order to engage with the import activities in Vietnam. However, the businessmen will need to form a trading company to import and distribute goods in the country. Establishing a trading company in Vietnam is inexpensive, and no minimum capital contribution will be required. It will take about three months to establish a trading company in Vietnam. However, if you want to sell imported products in Vietnam, you will need to get a trading license. The Department of Planning and Investment issues this license, and you acquire this in one to three months.

If you don’t want to set up a legal entity, and just want to try the products, you can get an importer of record (IOR). With the help of IOR, you won’t have to acquire any kind of import license, and you can start importing your products immediately. Importer of the record is usually acquired when someone wants to test the market before fully diving into it. But with this IOR, you can import only a few times.

Customs Procedures

When you import organic Japanese tea to Vietnam, the customs authorities will inspect and verify the product before it is allowed to be entered and distributed into the country. The customs authority check:

The quality of the product
Product specifications
Product quantity
The volume of the goods

If the imported goods are not up to the standards and regulations provided by the Vietnamese government, the entry of those goods in Vietnam will be forbidden. However, if they meet those standards and regulations, you can freely distribute or sell the products in the country.

The custom standards of Vietnam are set under Law No. 54/2014/QH13.

Customs or Import Duty Tax in Vietnam

Vietnam imposes taxes on all the products that are being imported into the country. The taxes include general duty tax, value-added tax, and for some goods, special consumption tax. In Vietnam, the import duty and all the other taxes are calculated on the entire shipping value. This completed shipping value includes the cost of imported products, cost of insurance, and cost of freight.

The duty and sales tax in Vietnam is:

Note here that the VAT rate is applied on all the products being imported to Vietnam as there is no threshold present. VAT will be applicable irrespective of the value or quantity of imports.

Company Registration in Vietnam

There are two kinds of legal entities present in Vietnam. These are:

Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Joint-stock Company (JSC)

LLC doesn’t contain any shareholders, but it can have 1-50 members who represent the ownership of the company. On the other hand, JSC must have a minimum of 3 shareholders. Your company will get registered under any of these two entities.

In order to register your company in Vietnam, you need to have an Investment Registration Certificate (IRC), which will be issued by the Department of Planning and Investment. You will acquire this certificate after a month. The next certificate that you’ll need will be the Business Registration Certificate (BRC), which will be issued by the same department. BRC is also referred to as Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC). You also need to have a business license number certificate. This certificate will also mention your company’s tax number, according to which you’ll have to pay your taxes. However, the taxes will be paid through an online system, and you’ll have to submit the report electronically as well.

Now, once you receive your BRC, you’ll get 90 days to make a capital contribution. For most businesses, there is no minimum capital contribution, but the Department of Planning and Investment advises you to provide just enough that can cover your monthly expenses. Many businesses start with USD 10,000, while some go with USD 3,000. It takes about one month to fully register your company.

FAQs

What customs documents are required in Vietnam to allow goods into the country?

Companies or businessmen who wish to import organic Japanese tea to Vietnam will have to provide certain documents to the Vietnamese customs authority. The extremely important documents include:

Company’s business registration certificate
Import business code registration certificate

Additional documents include:

Lading bill
Import goods declaration form
Origin certificate
Release order of cargo
Inspection report
Health certificate/technical standard
Commercial invoice
Packing list
Delivery order (if the goods are imported via seaports)
Terminal handling receipts

How can you calculate the import duty tax for tea?

In order to calculate the import duty tax on organic Japanese tea, make sure you know the HS-CODE for tea. The HS-CODE for tea is 63-2-93-0-0.

Now, imagine you import a medium amount of organic Japanese tea just to test the market. The total cost of your tea comes out to be 15,000 Dong with 7,000 Dong insurance costs. In this case, there will be no general duty tax applied because it is less than the threshold value. However, VAT will be applied to the total value of the goods. So, 10% VAT will be 0.1 x 22,000 = 2200 Dong. The total value will become 24,000 Dong.

Let’s say your testing phase breaks records. Now, you want to import a larger quantity of organic Japanese tea and, say, the quantity of the goods exceeds the threshold value, i.e., 1,000,000 Dong, and the insurance cost comes out to be 50,000 Dong. Now, the general duty tax, which is 12%, will also be applicable to the total amount, which is 1,050,000 Dong. After applying the duty tax, we get the value 0.12 x 1,050,000 = 126,000 Dong. Now, the total value becomes 1,176,000 Dong that you’ll pay to the Vietnamese government. Also, don’t forget to add 10% VAT on this value.

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What are the requirements to set up your company in Vietnam?

In order to set up your company in Vietnam, you need to provide the following information:

Minimum capital contribution
Your registered address
The registered director of the company

Conclusion

The people of Vietnam are learning more about their culture and traditions with each passing day, and they are all up to grab that nostalgic feeling of the good old days. That is why more and more tea houses are being manufactured in the country. Such a vast number of tea houses require different kinds of tea as well to leave the people awestruck. Organic Japanese tea is one such tea that has the tendency to do that. So, start importing organic Japanese tea to Vietnam, keeping all the import rules and regulations in view.

Need Assistance on Japanese Tea Importation?

This shipping and importation of Japanese tea in your country have been a long-standing service that we offer. Therefore, if you are interested in Japanese Tea importation either as a business or you simply want to have a taste of quality, authentic Japanese tea, you may contact us through this website, and we are more than happy to assist you. Click here to contact Green Tea Merchant.

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