Export Market Guide - Vietnam

All regulatory information for exporting wine to Vietnam including the regulatory environment, duties and taxes, and permitted additives.

Unless an exemption has been granted by Wine Australia, grape products exported from Australia must comply with the Food Standards Code. Accordingly, the labelling and wine standards information in Wine Australia’s Export Market Guides should be read in conjunction with Wine Australia’s Licensing and Compliance Guide which contains the requirements of the Food Standards Code and applicable exemptions.

Vietnam has been in transition from a centrally-planned to a market based economy since 1986. A socialist market-oriented economy is now in place. Economic growth has been significant in that time and the poverty level has seen significant decline.

Vietnam has been an ASEAN member since 1995 and in January 2007 formally acceded to the WTO. Vietnam is a former French colony and consequently loyalty to French wine is high. Vietnam has a small domestic wine industry which dominates the wine market in Vietnam.

Unlike Singapore and Thailand, the Vietnamese wine market has a significant domestic category which, in 2021, had a 26 per cent volume share of wine sales. Australia ranks fifth in volume after domestic, Chilean, French and Italian wines. Australian wine is forecasted to grow by 9 per cent per annum out to 2026, slightly faster than the total market (8 per cent growth) and overtaking Italy in volume by 2023. In 2022, Australian wine exports to Vietnam grew by 103 per cent in value to $11 million and 222 per cent in volume to 2.1 million litres. The number of exporters shipping to Vietnam also grew – up 60 per cent to 101 companies.

Estimates from Euromonitor International suggest that wine sales in Vietnam are approximately 65 per cent still red, 25 per cent still white, and 10 per cent sparkling. Australian wine exports to Vietnam are 87 per cent still red, 8 per cent white, and 5 per cent other – with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon being the varieties driving growth.

As with other markets in the region, wine consumption is heavily reliant on tourism and faced setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beer is also a major competitor – controlling 99 per cent of the alcohol market in Vietnam. Wine (especially imported) is seen as a luxury product typically reserved for special occasions or corporate gifts. Because wine is an emerging category in Vietnam, consumers often use attributes such as price for an indication of product quality, especially for those on lower incomes. While per capita consumption is less than a litre per year, population and economic growth make Vietnam an attractive emerging market in the years to come.

Australia and New Zealand (NZ) signed a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN (AANZFTA) in February 2009. ASEAN is worth about $294 million in average annual exports of Australian wine. AANZFTA saw a reduction of import tariffs to 20 per cent in 2022. 

Australia and Vietnam are also parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific-Partnership (CPTPP), formerly known as the Trans-Pacific-Partnership Agreement (TPP-11), which was signed by all 11 countries on 8 March 2018. Australia ratified the agreement on 31 October 2018, and it entered into force on 30 December 2018 for Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, NZ and Singapore. Vietnam has now also ratified the agreement and it entered into force for Vietnam on 14 January 2019. The CPTPP tariff reduction schedule will see further benefits for wines, however, the reductions will not occur until year 9 of the CPTPP agreement. Under the CPTPP, tariffs on wine will be eliminated in 2028.