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Requiring Accompanying Documents for the Marketing of Wine Products

09/13/2017
 

The obligation to ensure product identification and traceability is generally established in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002.

A specific legal regulation for wine products, establishing the obligation to market wine products in the Union accompanied by an officially approved accompanying document (meaning the accompanying document must accompany the product and cannot be provided subsequently, as is often the practice with other foods), is Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 (Article 147).

The documentation requirements that must accompany these products and according to which they should be labelled are then set out in Regulation (EU) 2018/273 (for wine products originating from the EU and wine products originating from third countries), and Decree No. 88/2017 Coll. (for wine products transported solely within the territory of the Czech Republic).

The obligation to present, upon importation of wine products from third countries, Document VI-1 (including a certificate and an analysis report) is established in Article 90(3) of Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013, with implementing rules for this article set out in Chapter IV, Section II of Regulation (EU) 2018/273.

Furthermore, in accordance with § 27(8) of Act No. 321/2004 Coll., on Viticulture and Winemaking, wine products must be stored in properly labelled containers to prevent confusion and to be able to prove their origin at any time.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENT

According to Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/273, the accompanying document must contain the information listed in Part A of Annex V to this Regulation or allow the competent authorities access to this information.

The accompanying document must be completed legibly and indelibly, without erasures or overwriting. Each prescribed copy of the accompanying document must be marked with the designation "copy."

The accompanying document, according to § 27(4)(b)(4) of Act No. 321/2004 Coll., must not contain false, incorrect, illegible, or incomplete data.

For transport from the same consignor to the same consignee, according to Annex V, Section B, Part 1, point 1.4 of Regulation (EU) 2018/273, a single document may be used, namely:

  • for multiple batches of the same type of product, or
  • for multiple batches of different types of products, provided they are stored in containers with a nominal volume not exceeding 60 litres, which are fitted with a single-use closure and labelled.

If the consignee refuses the total quantity of the product transported with the accompanying document or a partial quantity thereof, they shall note "refused by consignee" on the back of the accompanying document, along with the date and signature, and possibly record the refused quantity. The product can then be sent back to the consignor with the same accompanying document or stored by the carrier until a new accompanying document is issued [see Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2018/273].

Accompanying documents for wine products required within the territory of Member States or between them, according to the type of wine product (in connection with excise duty):

Wine products can generally be divided into:

  • products subject to excise duty (i.e., wines and intermediate products listed under Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes 2204, 2205, 2206, containing more than 1.2% alcohol by volume, but not exceeding 22% alcohol by volume) – still wines, sparkling wines, and intermediate products
  • products not subject to excise duty – grapes, grape juice, and pomaces

Excise duty for wine products is regulated by Act No. 353/2003 Coll. on Excise Duties.

When labelling wine with a CN code (according to the current customs tariff1), the SZPI accepts the basic version of the code (see below), provided the product is sufficiently identified by a verbal description. The CN code and the verbal description of the product must not contradict each other.

  • wine grapes CN code 0806 10 90
  • grape juice CN code 2009 61 and 2009 69
  • other de-alcoholized wines with an alcohol content up to 0.5% vol. CN 2202 99 19
  • other grape must CN code 2204 30
  • partially fermented grape must (including "burčák") CN 2204 30 10
  • still wines CN code 2204 21 and 2204 29
  • sparkling wines CN code 2204 10
  • fortified (fortified wines) CN code 2204 21
  • vermouths CN code 2205 10 and 2205 90

a. Products subject to excise duty, transported under duty suspension arrangement (DSA)

[Article 10(1)(a)(i) of Regulation (EU) 2018/273]

= a tax regime in which goods are temporarily exempt from excise duty, e.g., goods transported from one tax warehouse to another tax warehouse

A (standard) accompanying document is required, which represents:

  • a printout of the electronic administrative document or another commercial document, clearly indicating the specific administrative reference code = "ARC – administrative reference code" (Article 20(5) of Directive (EU) 2020/262).
  • In case the electronic system in the Member State is temporarily unavailable (not functioning), then a fallback document containing the same data as the draft electronic administrative document. At the same time, the authorities of the Member State of dispatch must be notified before the start of transport and the electronic administrative document submitted as soon as the system is restored (Article 26 of Directive (EU) 2020/262).

If the documents indicate the administrative reference code "ARC" assigned by the electronic system, the information listed in Annex V, Part A of Regulation (EU) 2018/273 must be contained in the used system.

The draft electronic administrative document and the electronic administrative document must meet the requirements defined in Annex I of Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1636.

This document (or at least the ARC code of the written form of this electronic accompanying document) must be presented to the tax administrator (customs administration) upon request.

b. Products subject to excise duty, transported in free circulation (FC)

[Article 10(1)(a)(ii) of Regulation (EU) 2018/273]

A (standard) accompanying document is required, which represents:

  • a printout of the simplified electronic administrative document, clearly indicating the simplified specific administrative reference code = "ARC" (Article 36(2) of Directive (EU) 2020/262).
  • In the event that the electronic system in a Member State is temporarily unavailable (not functioning), a fallback document containing the same information as the draft electronic administrative document shall be used. At the same time, the authorities of the Member State of dispatch must be notified before the transport begins, and the electronic administrative document must be submitted as soon as the system is restored (Article 38 of Directive (EU) 2020/262).

If the documents indicate the administrative reference code “ARC” assigned by the electronic system, the system used must contain the information set out in Part A of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/273.

The draft simplified electronic administrative document and the simplified electronic administrative document must comply with the requirements defined in Annex I of Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1636.

This document (or at least the ARC code) must be presented to the tax administrator (customs authority) upon request.

c. Products not subject to excise duty (grapes, grape juice, pomaces) and products subject to excise duty dispatched by small producers2 pursuant to Article 48 of Directive (EU) 2020/262 – (small wine producers – up to 1,000 hl per year)

[Article 10(1)(a)(iii) of Regulation (EU) 2018/273]

Accompanying documents are required, consisting of:

  • a printout of the electronic document or a commercial document containing the specific administrative reference code (transport code for wine products) “MVV” assigned to the electronic document by the information system.

If the documents indicate the administrative reference code “MVV” assigned by the information system established by the Member State from which the consignment is dispatched, the information set out in Part A of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/273 must be contained in the system used.

The Czech Republic, based on Article 48(1) of Directive 2020/262, has established rules (§ 100a of Act No. 353/2003 Coll.), under which an accompanying document pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/273 is used for the transport of still wine from a small producer to a tax warehouse in the territory of the Czech Republic or another EU Member State.

d. Products transported exclusively within the territory of the Czech Republic

[§ 11 of Decree No. 88/2017 Coll.]

If the transport of wine products takes place solely within the territory of a Member State, Member States may, under Article 10(5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/273, recognise other accompanying documents (including documents based on an electronic procedure – simplified procedure).

The Czech Republic has laid down, pursuant to § 11 of Decree No. 88/2017 Coll., the requirements for accompanying documents for the transport of wine products within its territory (§ 27(14) of Act No. 321/2004 Coll.).

Therefore, instead of accompanying documents under Regulation (EU) 2018/273, accompanying documents meeting the requirements of § 11 of Decree No. 88/2017 Coll. may be used for transport carried out exclusively within the territory of the Czech Republic.

The accompanying document must be in paper form and, in the case of legal persons, shall contain the name, surname and signature of the person(s) acting on behalf of the consignor, or, in the case of natural persons, the name, surname and signature of the person issuing the accompanying document. The accompanying document must contain the data specified in § 11(1) of Decree No. 88/2017 Coll.

A tax document, delivery note or other document shall be considered an accompanying document if it meets the requirements laid down in § 11 of Decree No. 88/2017 Coll.

The issued document may be used only for a single transport and no later than the end of the third day from the start of the transport.

When transporting products originating from third countries, the accompanying document must also include, in addition to the above-mentioned requirements, the number of the VI 1 document or the reference number of an equivalent document approved by the competent authorities of the country of origin.

[1] The current version of the regulation can be found on the website of the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic: https://www.celnisprava.cz/cz/clo/sazebni-zarazeni-zbozi/spolecny-celni-sazebnik-es/Stranky/default.aspx

[2] Small producer – a producer who produces on average less than 1,000 hectolitres of wine per wine year, based on the average annual production over a period of at least three consecutive wine years (Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/273)

Update: April 2025