Making, trading, and transporting wine
Do you produce, trade, or transport wine in the Netherlands? You must comply with several European regulations for wine. There are for instance rules for producing wine, labelling bottles, reporting production, and sample fields. You have to register as a wine producer, and you may require a permit, or consent for certain activities.
Registration as a wine producer
Do you make, trade, or transport wine? You must register as a wine producer with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO, in Dutch).
Reporting wine production
As a commercial wine producer, you must report your wine production annually to RVO (in Dutch), between 1 November and 15 January.
Registration of production
Wine producers must keep records of their activities (in Dutch). You have to keep records on:
- the harvest in a harvest book (oogstboek, in Dutch)
- the treatment of wine (in Dutch), such as enrichment, sweetening, or adjusting the acidity, including supporting fermentation records
- inbound and outbound bottles
You should keep your records for at least 5 years. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit, NVWA) may check your records.
You will lose wine by evaporation during storage, and during the treatment of the wine. If that percentage of loss is higher than the maximum acceptable percentages for losses (maximale verliespercentage, in Dutch), you should report this to RVO by e-mail: info.wijn@rvo.nl.
Labelling wine
You must comply with the rules for wine labels. You must use the prescribed font size and you have to use specific logos.
The wine label must contain information on, among other things:
- the list of ingredients
- the place of production
- the alcoholic strength by volume
- the allergens
- the nutrition declaration
- the net content
You must include the name, and location of the producer, seller, importer, and bottler. You may replace the details of 1 party with a label code number (etiketcodenummer). You can request a label code number with RVO (in Dutch).
If your wine is (partially) de-alcoholised, you must mention this on the wine label, including the actual alcoholic strength by volume. If the actual alcoholic strength by volume is less than 10%, you must also add a best-before date.
Is your wine mainly made from 1 grape variety? You may only put the term varietal wine (cépagewijn, in Dutch) on the label after you got permission from RVO (in Dutch). For this permission you must meet the requirements. For example, the grape variety must be listed in the Vine varieties database, and you cannot use a PDO/PGI.
Registration of local produce
If you want to register a specific, regional type of wine with geographical indications, you have to apply for protection to RVO (in Dutch). You have 2 options:
If your wine is registered as PDO or PGI, you must mention this on the label with the term ‘protected designation of origin’ (PDO), or ‘protected geographical indication’ (PGI), and its name.
Registration for sample fields, and experiments
If you want to use a new type of grape, you must apply for a sample field permit (in Dutch). If the wine is produced from the harvest of a sample field it needs to be mentioned on the label as ‘wijn van proefaanplant’ and ‘Nederland’.
If you want to experiment with the wine-making process (oenological experiment) you have to request permission from RVO (in Dutch) to sell the experimental wine.
Transporting wine
If you transport wine (in Dutch) only in the Netherlands, then you do not need transport documents. Your invoice acts as a transport document.
If you transport wine or wine growing products outside the Netherlands, you may need an authorised commercial or transport document with a reference number. You can request the relevant transport documents with RVO by email: info.wijn@rvo.nl.