Certificates of age and origin for the Spirit Drinks Verification Scheme
Find out who the certificates are issued to, how to apply and any restrictions on the use of them.
HMRC issues certificates of age and origin to support exporters and producers of UK manufactured spirits and facilitate entry of their product into overseas markets.
Most certificates are for Scotch Whisky exports. They are an essential part of the industry’s efforts to protect Scotch Whisky in overseas markets from counterfeiting. They demonstrate the authenticity of spirit drinks.
Who can get a certificate
We issue certificates of age and origin to UK applicants who are able to provide a satisfactory audit trail of the origin of the product. This is restricted to distillers, brand owners and manufacturers and holders of goods in duty suspense.
We may also issue certificates of age and origin to overseas applicants for spirits previously consigned which are being sent on to a further overseas destination (for example from UK to France to Taiwan), providing the applicant provides a certificate of non-manipulation and also holds satisfactory documentary evidence of the spirits’ origin.
Scotch Whisky certificates of age and origin
The following certificates are currently in use for Scotch Whisky:
- C&E 94 (USA)
- C&E 94D (Japan)
- C&E 94H (Singapore)
- C&E 94J (Taiwan)
- C&E 94 K(Romania)
- C&E 94L (Philippines)
- C&E 96 (General Use)
- C&E 96A (Canada)
Charge for certificates of age and origin and how to apply
There is a charge for the certificates and postage. All charges are subject to review.
Contact HMRC’s Spirit Drinks Verification Unit by email at certificates.sdvs@hmrc.gov.uk for more information.
Record keeping
You’ll need to keep a record of the numbers of certificates you receive and sufficient detail to provide an audit trail of the consignment each is used with.
Restrictions on the use of certificates of age and origin
Certificates must only be used by the person they are issued to.
If a certificate is used to support the bulk export of Scotch Whisky it must only be used to confirm that the bulk product is Scotch Whisky, not to imply that the final product has been verified.