Rice wine price cut to take effect mid-Sept.

The MOF said it is revising the Enforcement Rules of Tabaco and Alcohol Administrative Act and the Regulations Governing the Labeling of Alcohol Products to lower the price of rice wine.

Therefore, the price cut is not likely to take effect before Sept. 16, the MOF said.

Hsu An hsuan, president of the state-owned Taiwan Tabaco and Liquor Corp., said the new rice wine price may be set at NT$25 (US$0.78) to NT$30 per bottle, after the company takes marketing and distribution costs into consideration. The current price of the product is NT$50 per bottle.

Last month, the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act to categorize rice wine as a cooking ingredient instead of a distilled spirit.

This means that the excise tax on a 0.6 liter bottle of Red Label rice wine will drop from NT29.25 to NT$5.4, regardless of its alcohol content, which is currently 19.5 percent.

The new excise tax will apply not only to the locally made Red Label wine but also to imported rice wines.

The United States and European Union countries have expressed concern that the tax cut would give rice wine an unfair advantage in the market over imported distilled alcoholic products.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email