Importing Wine to the USA: Permits, Excise Tax, and Labels

Importing wine to the USA on a commercial basis requires a Federal Basic Permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), FDA registration of the foreign winery, an approved label for every product, a customs bond, and entry filings with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Federal excise tax and customs duty are paid at entry, and each state where you plan to sell adds its own license on top. Travelers bringing wine home for personal use follow a much shorter path but still face duty-free limits and state rules.

The Federal Basic Permit Comes First

No one may commercially import wine into the United States without a Federal Basic Permit. Federal law makes it illegal to bring in wine for business purposes unless you hold this permit.¹ You need a physical business location in the United States to qualify, and you apply through TTB’s free online system, Permits Online.²

The permit itself costs nothing, but you cannot legally import a single bottle for resale until it’s issued. TTB aims to process 85% of applications within 75 days; in early 2026 the median processing time for an importer permit ran between 34 and 44 days, and that window includes background checks, possible field investigations, and back-and-forth over corrections.³ Start the application well before your first shipment is scheduled. Demurrage and missed delivery windows cost real money.

FDA Registration and Prior Notice for Each Shipment

Wine counts as “food” under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, which puts the Food and Drug Administration in the loop on every shipment.⁴ Every foreign facility that manufactures, processes, or packs wine bound for the U.S. market must be registered with the FDA. If the winery’s registration has lapsed or was never completed, the container gets detained at the border.

Each incoming shipment also needs its own Prior Notice filing with the FDA before it arrives.⁵ The confirmation has to be in hand at least 8 hours before arrival for ocean freight, 4 hours for air or rail, and 2 hours for truck shipments crossing a land border.⁶ The notice identifies the manufacturer, the shipper, and the contents. Cargo that arrives without an accepted Prior Notice is refused entry and held in secure storage at your expense.

Getting Labels Approved

Every wine label sold commercially in the United States needs a Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) from the TTB before the first bottle reaches a shelf. You apply on TTB Form 5100.31, submitting images of the proposed labels along with the brand name, wine type, alcohol content, and the country where the grapes were grown and fermented.⁷ The application is free.⁸

TTB reviews labels under 27 CFR Part 13 and rejects applications for missing mandatory information, misleading claims, or incorrect classification.⁹ The sulfite declaration trips up first-time importers most often. Any wine containing 10 or more parts per million of sulfur dioxide must carry a “Contains Sulfites” warning, printed in a minimum type size of 2 mm on bottles larger than 187 mL.¹⁰ Virtually all commercially produced wine sits at or above that threshold, so the warning appears on nearly every label. Finalize label drafts before submitting the COLA to avoid the corrections cycle.

Clearing Customs at the Port

Once your wine reaches a U.S. port, you have 15 calendar days to file entry documents with CBP. The initial filing is CBP Form 3461, the Entry/Immediate Delivery form, which gives CBP the data it needs to release the cargo.¹¹ Nearly all filings go through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), CBP’s mandatory electronic platform.¹² Most importers hire a licensed customs broker to handle the submissions; brokers are a separate licensed profession regulated under 19 CFR Part 111.¹³

After the cargo is released, you have 10 working days to file the Entry Summary on CBP Form 7501 and deposit estimated duties and taxes.¹⁴ Missing that window triggers penalties and potential liquidated damages against your customs bond.

About that bond: CBP requires a customs bond for any commercial import worth more than $2,500 or subject to other federal agency requirements. Wine falls under both FDA and TTB jurisdiction, so a bond is required regardless of shipment value.¹⁵ Regular importers typically buy a continuous bond covering all shipments for a year, which costs less than single-entry bonds on each arrival.

Federal Excise Tax and Customs Duty

Federal excise tax is the biggest per-bottle government cost on most wine imports. Rates under 26 U.S.C. § 5041 turn on alcohol content and wine type:¹⁶

Still wine, 16% ABV or less: $1.07 per gallon
Still wine, over 16% up to 21% ABV: $1.57 per gallon
Still wine, over 21% up to 24% ABV: $3.15 per gallon
Sparkling wine: $3.40 per gallon
Artificially carbonated wine: $3.30 per gallon
Hard cider: $0.226 per gallon

Customs duties come on top of excise tax and are keyed to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Most still wine falls under HTS heading 2204 at a general duty rate of 6.3 cents per liter. Sparkling wine is higher at 14.8 cents per liter.¹⁷ Those are the baseline rates for countries with normal trade relations. Additional tariffs tied to executive orders and trade disputes can push the total much higher and can change with little warning, so verify the current HTS schedule and any active executive orders for the specific country of origin before finalizing landed-cost calculations. State excise taxes add another layer, running roughly $0.20 to over $2.50 per gallon depending on the state.

CBMA Credits Can Cut the Excise Rate

The Craft Beverage Modernization Act offers meaningful tax relief if the foreign winery formally assigns its credits to you as the U.S. importer. The assignment is submitted electronically through TTB’s registration system, and the foreign producer needs a TTB-issued Foreign Producer ID.¹⁸ For still wine at 16% ABV or below, the credits are:¹⁹

First 30,000 wine gallons: $1.00 per gallon credit, which effectively reduces the $1.07 rate to $0.07
Next 100,000 wine gallons: $0.90 per gallon credit
Next 620,000 wine gallons: $0.535 per gallon credit

For a small importer bringing in under 30,000 gallons, that $1.00 credit nearly eliminates the excise tax on standard still wine. The foreign producer can only assign a limited total quantity across all of its U.S. importers, so if the winery works with several, the credits get split. Assignments can be submitted starting October 1 of the prior year and must be finalized by March 31 of the following year.¹⁸ Without an active assignment, you pay the full rate.

State Licenses on Top of the Federal Permit

A TTB permit does not let you distribute wine everywhere in the country. The 21st Amendment explicitly prohibits transporting alcohol into any state in violation of that state’s laws.²⁰ Every state has its own alcohol control board and its own licensing regime for importers. Annual state license fees typically run from $25 to over $700, and many states also require separate registrations for warehousing, distribution, or direct-to-consumer shipping.

The specifics vary. Some states require you to sell through a licensed in-state wholesaler rather than distributing directly. Others allow direct shipping to consumers but cap volumes and require tax collection at the point of sale. Check with the beverage control authority in every state where you plan to sell or ship before the first case arrives at port. No amount of federal compliance protects you from a state-level violation.

Bringing Wine Back as a Traveler

Travelers returning to the United States can bring wine for personal consumption without a TTB permit. The standard duty-free allowance is one liter of alcohol per adult age 21 or older.²¹ Travelers coming from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa get up to five liters. Those returning from certain Caribbean and Central American beneficiary countries can bring back two liters duty-free, as long as at least one liter was produced in a beneficiary country.

Anything above your duty-free allowance is subject to customs duties and federal excise tax at the same rates commercial importers pay. Declare all alcohol on your customs form at arrival. CBP officers have broad authority to inspect luggage and to judge whether the quantity looks like personal use or unauthorized resale. Some states also cap the volume of alcohol an individual can bring across their borders regardless of what federal rules allow, and a few technically prohibit any importation by unlicensed individuals beyond the federal duty-free amount. Check the destination state’s rules before you pack an extra case.

One more constraint that catches people out: federal law prohibits sending any alcoholic beverage through the United States Postal Service. The statute classifies all “spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented, or other intoxicating liquors” as nonmailable, and it applies to every package regardless of sender or recipient.²² Private carriers such as FedEx and UPS do ship wine, but only for licensed businesses that hold the applicable federal and state licenses and use adult-signature-required delivery.²³ An individual who wants a case sent from overseas to a home address has no legal self-service option and must work with a licensed importer or customs broker.

Pre-Shipment Document Checklist

Paperwork for a commercial wine import touches every agency involved. Getting everything assembled before a shipment leaves its country of origin prevents the common delays. You will need:

Your active TTB Federal Basic Permit number, required on every entry filing
An approved COLA for each unique wine label, obtained through TTB Form 5100.31⁷
The foreign producer’s active FDA facility registration number
Prior Notice confirmation filed with FDA, timed to the mode of transport⁶
Commercial invoice with purchase price, currency, and a complete description of the wine
Packing list with exact bottle count, bottle sizes in milliliters, and total volume in liters
Customs bond on file with CBP, continuous or single-entry¹⁵
CBMA tax credit assignment, if applicable, submitted through TTB’s system

A single missing document can hold an entire container at the port. Storage charges accrue daily, and wine’s perishability makes extended delays especially damaging. Treat this list as a pre-shipment gate: nothing leaves the foreign port until every item is confirmed.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 27 U.S. Code 203 – Unlawful Businesses Without Permit; Application to State Agency
2
TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Applying for a Permit and/or Registration
3
TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Processing Times for Original Permit Applications
4
TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Public Law 107-188 – The Bioterrorism Act and the Alcohol Beverage Industry
5
eCFR. 21 CFR Part 1 Subpart I – Prior Notice of Imported Food
6
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prior Notice of Imported Food Questions and Answers
7
TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Certificate of Label Approval (COLA)
8
TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. COLAs and Formulas Online FAQs
9
eCFR. 27 CFR Part 13 – Labeling Proceedings
10
TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Wine Labeling – Declaration of Sulfites
11
Homeland Security. Find Import/Export Forms
12
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. ACE – The Import and Export Processing System
13
eCFR. 19 CFR Part 111 – Customs Brokers
14
eCFR. 19 CFR 142.12 – Time for Filing or Submission for Preliminary Review
15
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. When Is a Customs Bond Required
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 5041 – Imposition and Rate of Tax
17
U.S. International Trade Commission. Harmonized Tariff Schedule Chapter 22
18
eCFR. 27 CFR 27.262 – Foreign Producers Assignment of CBMA Tax Benefits
19
TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Tax Rates
20
Congress.gov. Twenty-First Amendment Section 2
21
eCFR. 19 CFR 148.33 – Articles Acquired Abroad
22
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1716 – Injurious Articles as Nonmailable
23
FedEx. How to Ship Alcohol – Regulations, Licenses and Services