Bonded Wine Export: 20' Container from Riga to Hong Kong
Riga → Hong Kong
A Riga-based wine trading company needed a 20' container of bonded wine moved from its Latvian warehouse to Hong Kong, and Unicore ran the export from the warehouse gate to the bill of lading. Because the goods were not in free circulation, the container travelled from the warehouse to the departure terminal under a T1 transit declaration, was sealed after loading and insured for the ocean leg, with the export documentation prepared in Riga. The three days of container detention at origin were planned into the loading window from the start.
Shipment Facts
The Challenge
Wine held in an excise or customs warehouse in Latvia is not in free circulation, so it cannot simply be trucked to the port like duty-paid cargo. Every movement between the warehouse and the departure terminal has to run under a customs transit procedure, and the container has to be sealed and documented so that the goods leave the EU without ever being released for consumption. The customer also wanted cover for the ocean leg and one party responsible for the booking, the T1 transit, the export documents and the bill of lading. Loading at the warehouse also needed three days, so the container's time at origin had to be planned into the booking rather than left to run into unplanned detention.
How Unicore Handled It
- Booked one 20' standard container FCL from Riga to Hong Kong and arranged the bill of lading for the shipment.
- Opened a T1 transit declaration so the wine, still not in free circulation, could move from the Riga warehouse to the departure terminal under customs control.
- Trucked the container from the warehouse to the terminal and sealed it after loading, so the box left Latvia as one closed, documented unit.
- Arranged cargo insurance for the ocean leg and prepared the export documentation in Riga.
- Planned the three days of container detention at origin into the loading window, so the warehouse had the time it needed to load and the container's time at origin was known in advance.
The Result
- One sealed 20' container of bonded wine exported from Riga to Hong Kong on a single bill of lading.
- The goods moved from the excise warehouse to the departure terminal under T1 transit without being released into free circulation in Latvia — a clean re-export from a Riga bonded warehouse.
- Booking, transit declaration, sealing, insurance, export documents and origin detention handled by one forwarder in Riga.
Based on a real Unicore shipment. Customer identity and commercial terms are withheld for confidentiality.