Trinidad and Tobago — agent-bev Library

Market status

Licensed. Private operators trade in beverage alcohol through a national liquor-licensing system. Importation is handled through Customs and Excise clearance, and sale or distribution requires the appropriate liquor licence for the premises and product range. Spirit and wine licences have different privileges, with spirit licences extending to intoxicating liquor and wine licences extending to beer.

Sources

Who can trade

Import: Commercial importers use Customs and Excise clearance and must use a customs broker for commercial goods. The import file normally includes the customs declaration, supplier invoice, transport document, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Area Invoice where applicable, certificate of origin, and any import licence if the item is on the import negative list. Customs notices require import/export declarations to use the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) number and, where applicable, the Value Added Tax (VAT) number.

Wholesale and distribution: Any person or business place wishing to sell intoxicating liquor needs a liquor licence. Spirit retailer and wine retailer licences allow sale in any quantity for on- or off-premises consumption. Spirit grocer licences cover bottled off-premises sale. Spirit dealer licences cover off-premises trade in larger quantities, including rum made in Trinidad and Tobago and imported spirits in original unbroken packages. Wine merchant licences cover wine or beer only for off-premises sale in minimum quantities. Food premises used to store, offer or sell food for human consumption require annual public-health registration.

Manufacture and bonded spirits handling: Distilling spirits requires a distiller’s licence; spirits and compounds may be warehoused and released for consumption only after the required excise treatment and permits.

Business-to-business (B2B) online sale: Electronic offers, acceptances and electronic contracts are recognised under the Electronic Transactions Act where the Act applies. The online channel does not replace the underlying customs, food-premises and liquor-licence requirements. Platform, broker and payment-intermediary treatment for alcohol-only B2B marketplaces: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Customs and duty

Tariff headings: Beer: 2203. Beer made from malt. Wine: 2204. Wine of fresh grapes, including fortified wine and certain grape must. Cider: 2206. Other fermented beverages and mixtures, which is the likely heading for cider. Spirits: 2208. Undenatured ethyl alcohol below the high-strength threshold; spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages.

Import duty: Trinidad and Tobago publishes its customs tariff in the First Schedule to the Customs Act through the Customs (Common External Tariff) Order. Legal Notice No. 218 of 2024 replaced the schedule from 2025-01-01, and later amendment orders can change particular lines. Payable duty depends on the full commodity code, origin, preference, suspensions or variations, and import documents; a four-digit heading alone is not enough.

Excise: Alcoholic-beverage excise is set under the Excise (General Provisions) Act by the Excise Duty (Alcoholic Beverages) Order and amendments. Beer, stout and malt beverages are structured by volume and original gravity. Wine lines are structured by volume. Rum and other spirits obtained from sugar-cane products, and other spirits such as brandy, vodka, liqueurs and cordials, are structured by litres of alcohol by volume and adjusted for strength. Spirits in warehouse require duty payment and permits before delivery for consumption.

Territorial treatment: The customs and excise sources are national Republic of Trinidad and Tobago instruments, and Customs and Excise operates clearance locations in both Trinidad and Tobago. Separate Tobago alcohol customs or excise rates: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Labelling

Required language(s): Food-label declarations required by the Food and Drugs Regulations must be in English. Alcoholic beverage common names associated with a country or locality may be in another language, but must be printed in the English alphabet with accent marks where appropriate.

Mandatory warnings: A general mandatory alcohol-health or pregnancy warning for beer, wine, spirits and cider: Not yet sourced. Brewery-product labels may state a warning on the effects of alcohol on health or safety, but the regulation frames this as optional. Product-dependent statements apply where the food rules require them, including specified non-nutritive sweetener statements.

Alcohol strength: A beverage containing more than 1.0% alcohol by volume must state alcoholic strength on the main panel, using alcohol by volume, degrees Gay-Lussac, proof spirit or another authorised term. Brewery products for retail sale must state alcoholic strength by volume.

Allergens: A mandatory alcohol allergen declaration regime, including sulphites, milk or egg residues: Not yet sourced. General food labels require ingredient lists unless an exemption applies; alcoholic beverages are listed among foods for which a list of ingredients is not required under the cited provision.

Origin and responsible business: Brewery products for retail sale state manufacturer details, country of origin, importer or distributor if any, alcoholic strength and net contents. Bulk brewery packages state common name, brand or trade name, manufacturer and preparer details, average net contents, origin for imported or exported products, importer or distributor if any, and date mark.

Wine particulars: “Wine” is reserved for undistilled fermented alcoholic beverages from fresh or preserved grapes. Fruit, flower, leaf, grain or other botanical wine must be named by the relevant substance. Non-alcoholic wine is limited by the prescribed alcohol threshold.

Label registration: Routine pre-market alcohol label registration or approval for imported alcoholic beverages: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Age and sale limits

Legal purchase age: 18. The Ministry of Finance guidance states that intoxicating liquor may only be sold to persons 18 years of age and older. The Liquor Licences Act also disqualifies a person apparently under 18 from being granted or transferred a licence unless that person proves the required age.

Sale-hour and channel limits: The Ministry of Finance describes spirit retailer, wine retailer, spirit grocer, spirit dealer, hotel, restaurant and night-bar categories as operating at any time of day or night within the licence privileges. The parliamentary record for the Shop (Opening Hours) (Amendment) Order states that shops operated under specified liquor licences may open for liquor sale or supply at any time on any day, including public holidays. Occasional and special licences can have event-specific quantity, manner, day and hour conditions.

Regional layers: Liquor licensing is administered by licensing districts and licensing committees. Tobago is a licensing district with its own published licensing sessions, but separate Tobago purchase-age or ordinary sale-hour rules: Not yet sourced. Municipal or local dry-area restrictions: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Protected names

Protection framework: The Geographical Indications Act protects indications identifying goods as originating in a country, region or locality where a quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to geographical origin. Protection is available even without registration, while registration creates a presumption and restricts use of a registered indication to producers in the registered area whose goods have the registered qualities.

Rum and spirits: For spirits, a geographical indication may not be used for spirits not originating in the indicated place, even if the true origin is shown or the name is translated or accompanied by terms such as “kind”, “type”, “style” or “imitation”. Trade marks for spirits containing or consisting of a spirits geographical indication must be refused or invalidated for spirits not having that origin. Food rules also restrict alcoholic names associated with a country or locality and require true country or locality origin wording where a protected origin-type common name is used for a product made elsewhere. The common name “rum” cannot be applied below the prescribed proof threshold. The Spirits and Spirit Compounds Act recognises rum made in Trinidad and Tobago as a domestic spirits category and distinguishes it from compounded spirits where it is cured or otherwise treated within the allowed obscuration limit.

Verified registered domestic rum geographical indication: Not yet sourced. Verified registered wine, spirit or beer geographical indications in Trinidad and Tobago: Not yet sourced.

Sources

GTIN authority

Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) authority: GS1’s contact page indicates that GS1 is not present in Trinidad and Tobago. A business may contact any GS1 Member Organisation or obtain a barcode number from GS1 Global Office.

Sources

Not yet sourced

Platform, broker and payment-intermediary treatment for alcohol-only B2B marketplaces; separate Tobago alcohol customs or excise rates; general mandatory alcohol-health or pregnancy warning; mandatory alcohol allergen declaration regime; routine imported alcohol label registration or approval; separate Tobago purchase-age or ordinary sale-hour rules; municipal or local dry-area restrictions; verified registered domestic rum geographical indication; verified registered wine, spirit or beer geographical indications in Trinidad and Tobago: Not yet sourced.