Malaysia Alcoholic Beverage Regulation

1. Definition and Classification

According to the Food Regulations 1985, alcoholic beverage shall be a liquor containing more than 2 per cent v/v of alcohol and includes the food for which a standard is prescribed in Regulations 362 to 384, 386 and 386A of the Food Regulations 1985 (as listed below) but does not include denatured spirit or any liquor or any preparation containing more than 2 per cent v/v of alcohol for which medicinal properties are claimed. In Malaysia, a person shall not sell any alcoholic beverage to any person under the age of twenty-one years.

Regulation No.	Product category	Regulation No.	Product category
(Regulation) 362	Wine	375	Rice wine
363	Wine cocktail, vermouth or wine aperitif	376	Toddy
364	Aerated wine	377	Spirit
365	Dry wine	378	Brandy
366	Sweet wine	379	Fruit brandy
367	Fruit wine	380	Rum
368	Apple wine	381	Whisky
369	Cider	382	Vodka
370	Peer wine	383	Gin
371	Perry	384	Samsu
372	Vegetable wine	386	Liqueur
373	Honey wine or mead	386A	Compounded hard liquor
374	Beer, larger, ale or stout	/	/

Please note that alcoholic beverage for which a standard has not been otherwise expressly prescribed by these Regulations shall not be categorized under regulation 395 as food not elsewhere standardized and shall be prohibited for sale.

2. Competent Authority and Responsibilities

Competent authority	Responsibility
Ministry of Health (MOH), especially the Food Safety and Quality Program	Oversees the country’s food safety and quality control Develops food safety and quality policies and legislation Monitors and enforces compliance for imported and domestic food
Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN)	Develops policies and strategies for the domestic trade, including distributive trade and consumerism sectors
Malaysia Quarantine and Inspection Services (MAQIS)	Conducts quarantine and inspection
Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD)	Handles customs clearance and importation

3. Regulatory Framework

The Food Act 1983 and its subsidiary legislation, the Food Regulations 1985, are the fundamental law and regulation for food safety and quality. In addition to these regulations, enterprises may also need to comply with other regulations issued by other departments:

4. Market Access Approval

4.1 Overall import procedure

Before exporting products to Malaysia, overseas enterprises must ensure that the food products comply with the provisions specified in the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985. Part of the product compliance requirements is detailed in “4.2 Product Compliance."

Moreover, before the exportation, importing and shipping agents (customs brokers) of overseas enterprises are required to register with the Malaysian Food Safety Information System (FoSIM). The system is linked to the Royal Malaysian Customs Department's system known as the Customs Information System (CIS), allowing importers, shipping agents, and Authorized Officers to manage food importation activities electronically using a risk-based approach.

The overall importation procedure is summarized below. Please note that for alcoholic beverage products, license are required by the Royal Malaysian Customs, or they are prohibited with importation, as per Customs Act 1967, Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2023, etc.

4.2 Product compliance

The compliance requirements for different products are outlined in the Food Act 1983 and the Food Regulations 1985. For example, regulations regarding incidental constituents, like metal contaminants, can be found in Part VII of the Food Regulations 1985.

Part of the compliance requirements for special purpose foods are summarized as below. Please note that alcoholic beverage shall be packed in glass bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bottles or porcelain bottles.

Regulation No.

Product category

Product compliance

Regulation 362

Wine

The product of the partial or complete alcoholic fermentation of grape juice or grape juice and other portions of grapes or the reconstituted product of concentrated grape fruit juice and potable water or a combination of these
Shall contain not less than 7 per cent v/v and not more than 15 per cent v/v of alcohol
May contain (a) urea and yeast; (b) fructose, glucose, glucose syrup, sugar; (c) carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen; (d) volatile acidity calculated as acetic acid, not including preservative acids, in a proportion not exceeding 1.2 g per liter; and (e) potable water.
May contain permitted preservative and permitted food conditioner, including polyvinylpyrrolidone in a proportion not exceeding 60 mg per litre

Regulation 374

Beer

Product of the alcoholic fermentation of liquid derived from a mash of malted grain with hops or other harmless vegetable bitter
Shall contain more than 2 per cent v/v of alcohol; and may contain unmalted cereal or cereal meal, sugar, yeast nutrient or carbon dioxide
May contain caramel as a colouring substance, ascorbic acid and not more than 25mg/kg of sulphur dioxide or sulphite as permitted food conditioner

Food additive usage compliance in Malaysia can be found in ChemLinked's FoodCheck tool.

5. Label

Alcoholic beverage products must first adhere to the general labeling requirements and product labeling requirements as specified in the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985. Then such products shall also meet the labeling requirements put forward by other authorities such as:

…

Details regarding labeling requirements can be found at ChemLinked's FoodCheck tool. For allergen labeling, please read ChemLinked article "How to Label Food Allergen Information for the Malaysian Market".

Recommended materials:

Online course: Focus on Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea: Food Compliance and Import Procedure Interpretation
Online course: Unlock Food Labeling Requirements in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia

* Global Food Compliance Service

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Tags: Malaysia Alcohol Regulation & Standard