Georgia
Population: 4,474,404
GDP Growth Rate: 8%
GDP(Per pop.): $3,800
Unemployment: 12%
Population growth rate: -0.329% (2007 est)
Languages: Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7%
Literacy: 100%
Military expenditures(% of GDP): 0.59% (2005 est.)
More background information about doing business in Georgia can be found here.
Georgia is a Normal-Trade-Relation country, and is the target of no quotas. It is a member of several trade blocs, such as the Commonwealth of Independant States(a post-Soviet league of Eastern European nations)
but none that directly affect the US. The Georgian Lari is currently(June 07) trading at 1USD to 1.67GEL and is reasonably stable, having made gains against the dollar over the past few years. There are over 5,000 individual vinyards in Georgia, of which several hundred export to Europe. These are the few that would be possible candidates to contact for exporting to the US. Building personal relationships and purchasing over the long-term from a few trusted suppliers is the recommended business method. A partner or agent in the area who is familiar with the language & culture would be essential, at least in the short-term. Ill-prepared Western importers have experienced quality-control problems and outright fraud in the past.
Importing a product like wine into the US can be a complicated process. We begin by classifying the products and determining the duty.
According to the 2006 HTSUS(Harmonized Tariff Schedule), the two types of wines are
2204.21.50.30 Red Wine, under 14% alcohol, in 2liter or smaller containers
2204.21.50.46 White
Both have an assessable duty of $.063 per liter. No quotas apply.
Shipping Route: Georgia lies adjacent to the Black Sea. The wine would be shipped from the port city of Batumi. (Georgian wineries typically handle shipment to the port, which is usually a relief to the importer, as Georgian roads are not the best) From Batumi, it would follow the typical trade routes in the Mediterranean to transfer the container in an east-coast port, after which it would be railed to Seattle & then warehoused unit the freight is paid, at which point a trucker would pickup the pallets and deliver them to my warehouse(also known as my garage).
The entire trip is estimated at approx 25 days. A quicker trip is available, at a 25-100% markup. Fastest speed via ship is 15 days.
Shipping Costs: 200 cases(2400 bottles) on 4 pallets would be approximately $950 from the port of Batumi to the trans-shipper's warehouse in Seattle. That works out to $.40 per bottle. This price does not include handling fees, misc charges(harbor fees, transhipment fees, etc), customs duties or customs brokers fees.
Packaging: The wine would be packed in standard dozen-bottle cardboard cases. The cases are taped & stacked approximately 40 to a pallet. The pallets are shrink-wrapped, and a support frame is nailed onto them if they are to be double-stacked. After the containers are "stuffed", the entire "inner load" is shrink-wrapped again to guard against water contamination.
Documents Needed
To EXPORT wine from Georgia: Bill of lading, certificate of origin, commercial invoice, export declaration form, export permit, packaging list, pre-shipment inspection/clean report of findings, technical standard/health certificate.
To IMPORT into the USA, it is necessary to furnish the bill of lading, certificate of origin, commercial invoice, ATF import form, FDA approval notice, state import form(s), customs cargo release form, customs import declaration form, packing list.
NVO/CHB It would be necessary to use a NVO(Non-Vessel Operator) to consolidate the LCL(Less-than Container Load) shipments. Once importing reached the level of entire containers or more this would become unnecessary. In addition, the services of a customs house broker experienced in small shipments of wine would be invaluable. I recommend William H Campbell company, in Seattle, WA.
Why Not?
As you can see, this tentative research plan shows a definite money-making possibility in importing this product. Not to be overlooked, in addition, is the benefit that comes from helping a small, poor, democratic & pro-western country shake off the ruthless economic domination of it's belligerant neighbor. Unfortunately I have decided not to pursue this import plan, for the following reasons.
Quality: Wine-making appears to be on a much smaller, localized-scale than in the major wine-producing countries. Consistency from bottle-to-bottle is a major issue, whether from inferior bottling methods, poor materials, inferior grape juice-extraction methods or even outright changes of wine batch types during the process.
Type: G. wine is typically "sweet" to "semi-sweet". This type of wine can be difficult to sell in the US market. Typical US consumers may enjoy S2SS wine, but usually prefer to buy "dry" or otherwise labeled wine.
Price: To top off these problems, G. wine exporters usually attempt to price their products in the $15-25 retail range. While the wines sold at this level are usually superior in taste, the relative obscurity of the country to connoisseurs(compared to Chile or Australia, for example), coupled with the price, results in a very low level of sales that is foreseeable for at least the near future. Reports of large quantities of surplus G. wine available at bargain prices because it can not be exported to Russia under the 2006 ban could be misleading, as the G. wine shipped to Russia is usually of an inferior type and not suitable for high-end American taste. When G. producers have tried to export large quantities of lower-priced "supermarket wines", the results have been very poor quality.
