Independent guide, affiliated with Easy Clearance, a UK–EU customs agency. Read our disclosure
CustomsBrokerUK

Guides / Polish alcohol for UK wholesalers · Updated 30 September 2026

Importing Polish vodka and beer as a UK wholesaler

Buying direct from Polish producers can work well for a UK wholesaler, but alcohol brings approvals and duty rules that ordinary goods do not. Here is what to sort out before the first order.

Polish vodka and lager sell well in UK shops, bars and cash and carries. For a UK business that wants to buy direct from a Polish distillery or brewery and sell on to retailers, the customs declaration is only part of the job. Before the first pallet leaves Poland you need to know whether your business must be approved to trade in alcohol, who will pay Alcohol Duty and when, and how the goods will arrive. This guide covers the UK buyer's side of that setup. For the wider picture of moving excise goods between the UK and the EU, see our general guide to shipping excise goods between the UK and EU.

Step one: check whether you need AWRS approval

The Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) applies to businesses that sell alcoholic products to other businesses for resale. HMRC's guidance names general wholesalers, cash and carry businesses, specialist wine wholesalers, wine importers and brokers among the businesses that need approval. The test HMRC uses is whether your sales are made at, or after, the point where excise duty becomes due.

In practice, a UK company that imports Polish vodka and beer and sells it to shops, pubs or restaurants is a typical AWRS case. HMRC says you should apply at least 45 days before you start trading and must wait for approval before trading. Trading without approval can lead to penalties.

There are narrow exceptions described by HMRC, such as unplanned, incidental sales by a retailer, and wholesale sales between members of the same corporate group. If your business model is buying in order to sell to other businesses, plan on needing approval.

AWRS also works the other way. HMRC expects approved wholesalers to check that the wholesalers they buy from are approved too, and to repeat that check regularly. If you ever buy duty-paid stock from another UK wholesaler rather than straight from Poland, keep a record of the check.

Step two: do you need APPA? Usually not

The Alcoholic Products Producer Approval (APPA) is for businesses that produce alcoholic products in the UK. HMRC defines production broadly, including making alcohol from raw ingredients and carrying out activities that change a product's alcohol strength or classification.

A wholesaler bringing in finished, bottled vodka and canned or bottled beer is not a producer. HMRC's guidance says plainly that you will not need an APPA if you do not produce alcoholic products and only import finished alcoholic products. HMRC also says that simply packaging bulk product made elsewhere, or bottling it without altering it, does not by itself require an APPA.

The picture changes if you plan to do more than resell. Blending, diluting a spirit to a different strength, or flavouring a product in the UK are the kind of activities that can bring you within APPA, so ask HMRC before you start any of them.

Step three: decide how the goods will arrive

Since Great Britain left the EU excise system, goods arriving from Poland are imports. HMRC's Excise Notice 197 explains that goods entering Great Britain from outside the UK must be declared to a customs procedure, and the options include:

For a wholesaler, the third route is often the practical one. The goods are declared at the border and then travel in duty suspension to a registered excise warehouse. According to Excise Notice 197, that onward duty-suspended movement from the place of import can only be started by a registered consignor, who needs a movement guarantee and must raise an electronic administrative document (eAD) on EMCS that includes the customs import entry number. The system then issues a 21-digit reference (ARC) that travels with the goods.

Most small importers do not hold registered consignor status themselves. Instead they work with a bonded warehouse and a customs agent who can arrange the declaration and the onward movement. Agree in writing who files what before the first load.

Paying excise duty at import on every load uses up cash straight away. Duty suspension in an excise warehouse lets you pay Alcohol Duty only when stock leaves the warehouse for sale, but it adds warehouse costs and paperwork. Compare both before you choose.

How Alcohol Duty is worked out

Alcohol Duty is charged per litre of pure alcohol in the product. The rate depends on the product category, such as beer, cider, wine or spirits, and on its strength band by ABV. HMRC's rates page also sets out lower rates for qualifying draught products.

For a typical Polish range, that means a 40% vodka and a 5% lager fall into very different bands, and your costings need to be done per product line using the current rates on gov.uk. Stated ABV on the labels and on the paperwork must match, because duty follows the declared strength and volume. HMRC guidance for excise warehouses stresses that importers must declare the volume and strength of the goods correctly.

When goods are held in an excise warehouse, duty becomes payable on removal to home use. Excise Notice 197 says the warehousekeeper can only remove goods to home use once a deferment or remittance advice has been submitted, so the warehouse will need your payment arrangements in place before it releases stock to you.

Duty stamps: no longer needed

Older guidance, including some supplier and logistics pages still online, says UK duty stamps must be fixed to bottles of spirits. That is out of date. HMRC's Revenue and Customs Brief 1 (2025) confirms the Alcohol Duty Stamps Scheme ended on 1 May 2025. From that date, both legacy stamped products and unstamped products may be sold and supplied, and there is no need to remove stamps already applied.

HMRC is clear that the end of stamps does not change your other duties. Due diligence on the supply chain and AWRS approval, where it applies, remain in force.

The import declaration itself

Whatever the excise route, the goods still need a customs import declaration in the UK's Customs Declaration Service. The gov.uk import steps apply: a GB EORI number, the correct commodity code for each product, the customs value and the declaration itself. Our guide to the CDS import declaration explains what goes into it, and the procedure code on the entry is what tells HMRC which of the three routes above you have chosen.

On the Polish side, the supplier handles the export and the EU excise formalities. The Easy Clearance article on how Polish alcohol exports leave excise suspension describes that sender side, which is useful to read alongside this guide.

Checklist before the first order

Related guides

Bringing Polish alcohol into the UK?

Easy Clearance is a UK–EU customs clearance agency handling import and export declarations, T1/T2 transit and UK–Poland removals. Its article covers the Polish export side of alcohol shipments.

Read the Easy Clearance article

Sources

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.