Wine drinking is becoming more and more popular in China and the prices of wine can vary considerably from brand to brand. Today, we are going to share some tips with you for taking out cargo insurance for shipping wine. 

Due to the low import duty in Hong Kong, most wines are imported from around the world to Hong Kong and then re-exported to China. As the first leg of the shipment to Hong Kong is usually insured by the seller, Hong Kong customers only need to insure the second leg of the shipment from Hong Kong to China. It is strongly suggested that the condition of the containers and cargoes are checked immediately after they have arrived in Hong Kong to prevent "concealed damage". 

The second thing that you should take note of is the value of the wine. As brand advocacy is very common, there may be a case that the actual invoice value (import value) of the wine is much lower than the selling invoice value. Therefore, it is better to familiarise yourself with the wine market and its price differences between the country of origin and China. In the event of claims, this market knowledge of prices will help to assess their true value.

Apart from this, packing of the wine is another thing that you need to take note of. "Packing" is most important especially for land transit due to unknown road conditions in China. Sturdy packing helps to minimise the risk of breakage. Cartons for wine should be thicker and sturdier than those usually used. Expensive wines should be packed in wooden cases. A single broken bottle of wine will lead to "constructive total loss" of the whole carton or wooden case due to the label damage to the rest of the wine. This is because most consignees will refuse to accept the replacement of labels or bottles with damaged labels. 

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