Oregon Gets Retailer Wine Shipping Right— Permits Available
November 15, 2007 – 2:55 pm
This year’s one important legislative victory for consumers and retailers on the issue of direct shipment of wine came in the great state of Oregon where that state transformed itself from a reciprocity state to a “permit” state. The upshot of this change is that out-of-state retailers may apply for and obtain a direct shippers permit and begin shipping on January 1, 2008.
Oregon recently posted its applications for a direct shippers permit that all retailers looking to ship to consumers in that state will need to file with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE OREGON DIRECT SHIPPERS PERMIT APPLICATION .
Among the rules the the new permit system puts in place are 1) only 2 cases per month may be shipped from any one retailer to a single customer, 2) language must be placed on the outside of the shipping box indicating that alcohol is inside, 3) Direct Shipper Statements must be filed with the Privilege Tax Department by the 20th of each month for shipments sent the previous month and 4) annual remittance of a $50 permit fee.
As in every other state where the issue of direct shipment of wine came before legislators, Oregon saw wholesalers attempt to exclude out-of-state retailers from shipping into the state. They claimed that the state would be inundated with retailers shipping into Oregon and implied that retailers could not be trusted to follow the law. With the help of the Wine Institute and the Oregon Winegrowers Association this protectionist effort was defeated and the new law was passed that allowed Oregonians to purchase wine from wineries and retailers anywhere in the country.
This victory is nothing to sneeze at. Consider the description of the beer and wine wholesaler lobby offered up last year by the Oregonian newspaper:
“In the past four years alone, the distributors have spent $1.2 million wining and dining legislators, paying their way to fancy Maui resorts and contributing to the campaigns of those willing to do their bidding. Years and years of such spending has paid off, enabling the group’s lobbyist to write much of the law governing beer distribution, and blocking every attempt to raise beer and wine taxes to pay for prevention and treatment of alcoholism.”
Focus on the Oregon wholesalers resulted after it was discovered that the Oregon Beer & Wine Distributors Association paid for Oregon legislators to travel to Hawaii, but the trip was not reported by the Lawmakers. This led to a series of articles on the scandal and the control Oregon distributors have on alcohol law in that state.
In the end the new Permit for out-of-state shippers is a model of how laws can be written that take into account consumer demand, the need to prevent alcohol from getting into the hands of minors and assuring the state is able to collect taxes on wines sold and shipped to residents.
SWRA recommends that all out-of-state retailers take advantage of this new law, download the application and obtain the permit to ship into Oregon.