Today, 34 state wine and spirits wholesaler associations joined national industry partners Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), American Beverage Licensees (ABL) and American Distilled Spirits Alliance (ADSA) in signing a letter to Congress detailing the dangerous impact USPS shipment of beverage alcohol could have on the U.S. beverage alcohol marketplace as well as public health and safety.
The U.S. alcohol marketplace is the safest, most diverse, and well-regulated in the world thanks in large part to the efficient and effective state-based regulatory model guaranteed by the Twenty-First Amendment. Public health and safety concerns like increased underage access and increased access to dangerous counterfeit products as well as, limited enforcement and regulatory oversight threaten to change that as direct-to-consumer (DTC) models of distribution, like those proposed in HR 3287, are considered by lawmakers.
State Associations are actively working to educate state lawmakers about the dangers of DTC shipment of beverage alcohol and the unintended consequences that the loosely regulated e-commerce DTC wine marketplace has had on state tax revenue and enforcement agencies as DTC spirits shipping bills are considered in state houses across the country.
To read the letter in full click HERE.
A full list of the 34 state associations that signed onto the letter can be found below:
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Arizona
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of California, Inc.
Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Colorado, Inc.
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut
D.C. Association of Beverage Alcohol Wholesalers
Delaware Alcohol Beverage Wholesalers Association
Wine and Spirits Distributors of Florida, Inc.
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Georgia
Hawaii Liquor Wholesalers Association
Idaho Beer & Wine Distributors Association
Wine & Spirits Distributors of Illinois
Wine & Spirits Distributors of Indiana
Kansas Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Association, Inc.
Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Kentucky, Inc.
Beer Industry League Louisiana
Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of Massachusetts, Inc.
Licensed Beverage Distributors of Maryland
Maine Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association
Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association
Minnesota Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association
Montana Beer and Wine Distributors Association
New Jersey Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association
New Mexico Beverage Wholesalers
North Carolina Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association
Wholesale Beer and Wine Association of Ohio
Oregon Beer & Wine Distributors Association
Alcohol Beverage Wholesalers Dealers of Rhode Island
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of South Carolina
Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee, Inc.
Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Texas
Virginia Wine Wholesalers Association, Inc.
Association of Washington Spirits & Wine Distributors
West Virginia Spirits Brokers Association
Wyoming Spirits Brokers Association