1. Budweiser's "Dual Life"

With 20 years of experience in the industry, I've noticed that many clients struggle to distinguish between Budweiser's two agency models:Brand regional agencyandCross-border trade procurementLast year, a Shenzhen company mistakenly treated a trade purchase as a brand agency deal, stockpiling 3,000 cases of European Budweiser but failing to access supermarket channels, ultimately having to sell them at a loss.

II. Proxy Mode Selection Guide

• Brand agency model
  • Authorization must be obtained directly from the Anheuser-Busch InBev Group.
  • The annual procurement volume shall not be less than 500,000 cases.
  • It is necessary to establish a dedicated warehousing and logistics system.
• Procurement model for trade
  • Procurement through overseas distributors.
  • Minimum of 5 containers per batch
  • Flexibly choose between the US/European/Asia-Pacific version.

III. Essential Checklist for Customs Clearance in 2025

IV. The Three Critical Points of Cost Control

In the cases I handled last year, the proportion of logistics costs to the total costs is as follows:

• ?Ocean shipping?Cost: 12-18% (subject to route fluctuations)
• Customs Duty and VAT: 29.7% (current rate in 2025)
• Warehouse loss: 3-5% (cold chain transportation required in summer)

V. The Pitfalls We've Stepped Into Over the Years

A typical case encountered by a certain customer importing US Budweiser in 2023:

• The entire shipment was detained at the port due to mistakenly declaring 330ml units as 355ml.
• Failure to apply for a liquor business license in advance resulted in a fine of 180,000 yuan.
• The Chinese back label not covering the original factory label has led to consumer complaints.

VI. New Trends in Customs Clearance for 2025

The latest initiative implemented by the General Administration of CustomsAlcohol Traceability SystemFor products that require the addition of inhibitors or stabilizers, relevant instructions should be provided to ensure the stability of the chemical products during transportation and storage.

• Each batch requires uploading video clips of the filling line.
• The transportation trajectory must be connected to the customs monitoring platform.
• Chinese labels must be affixed overseas.

Remember to choose one withAlcoholic Beverages?Import/export?Require the provision of a tax payment certificate and a special VAT invoice.We collaborated with agency companies, and last year's industry spot check revealed that 37% of so-called "professional agents" actually lacked the qualifications for beer imports. If you need a specific operational plan, we suggest bringing your procurement plan to join us for a cup of coffee—of course, pairing it with an ice-cold Budweiser would be even more fitting.