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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7183
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING AL COHOLIC LIQUOR WHOLE SALER
PERMITS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 30-17 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) (1) A wholesaler permit shall allow the bottling of alcoholic 3
liquor and the wholesale sale of alcoholic liquor to permittees in this 4
state and without the state, as may be permitted by law, and the sale of 5
alcoholic liquors to vessels engaged in coastwise or foreign commerce, 6
and the sale of alcohol and alcoholic liquor for industrial purposes to 7
nonpermittees, such sales to be made in accordance with the 8
regulations adopted by the Department of Consumer Protection, and 9
the sale of alcohol and alcoholic liquor for medicinal purposes to 10
hospitals and charitable institutions and to religious organizations for 11
sacramental purposes and the receipt from out-of-state shippers of 12
multiple packages of alcoholic liquor. The holder of a wholesaler 13
permit may apply for and shall thereupon receive an out-of-state 14
shipper's permit for direct importation from abroad of alcoholic 15
liquors manufactured outside the United States and an out-of-state 16
shipper's permit for direct importation from abroad of beer 17
manufactured outside the United States. The annual fee for a 18
wholesaler permit shall be two thousand six hundred fifty dollars. 19 Substitute Bill No. 7183
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(2) When a holder of a wholesaler permit has had the 20
distributorship of any alcohol, beer, spirits or wine product of a 21
manufacturer or out-of-state shipper for [six] eighteen months or more, 22
such distributorship may be terminated or its geographic territory 23
diminished upon (A) the execution of a written stipulation by the 24
wholesaler and manufacturer or out-of-state shipper agreeing to the 25
change and the approval of such change by the Department of 26
Consumer Protection; or (B) the sending of a written notice by certified 27
or registered mail, return receipt requested, by the manufacturer or 28
out-of-state shipper to the wholesaler, a copy of which notice has been 29
sent simultaneously by certified or registered mail, return receipt 30
requested, to the Department of Consumer Protection. No such 31
termination or diminishment shall become effective except for just and 32
sufficient cause, provided such cause shall be set forth in such notice 33
and the Department of Consumer Protection shall determine, after 34
hearing, that just and sufficient cause exists. If an emergency occurs, 35
caused by the wholesaler, prior to such hearing, which threatens the 36
manufacturers' or out-of-state shippers' products or otherwise 37
endangers the business of the manufacturer or out-of-state shipper and 38
said emergency is established to the satisfaction of the Department of 39
Consumer Protection, the department may temporarily suspend such 40
wholesaler permit or take whatever reasonable action the department 41
deems advisable to provide for such emergency and the department 42
may continue such temporary action until its decision after a full 43
hearing. The Department of Consumer Protection shall render its 44
decision with reasonable promptness following such hearing. 45
Notwithstanding the aforesaid, nothing in this section shall prohibit 46
the holder of a wholesaler permit and a manufacturer or out-of-state 47
shipper permittee from agreeing on different terms regarding 48
termination or alteration of a distributorship agreement, including 49
allowing for termination by the manufacturer or out-of-state shipper 50
permittee on a different timeframe, with just and sufficient cause 51
pursuant to this section, provided that such agreement is in writing. [a] 52
A manufacturer or out-of-state shipper may appoint one or more 53
additional wholesalers as the distributor for an alcohol, spirits or wine 54 Substitute Bill No. 7183
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product within such territory, provided such appointment shall not be 55
effective until [six] three months from the date such manufacturer or 56
out-of-state shipper sets forth such intention in written notice to the 57
existing wholesaler by certified or registered mail, return receipt 58
requested, with a copy of such notice simultaneously sent by certified 59
or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the Department of 60
Consumer Protection. For just and sufficient cause, a manufacturer or 61
out-of-state shipper may appoint one or more additional wholesalers 62
as the distributor for a beer product within such territory provided 63
such manufacturer or out-of-state shipper sets forth such intention and 64
cause in written notice to the existing wholesaler by certified or 65
registered mail, return receipt requested, with a copy of such notice 66
simultaneously sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt 67
requested, to the Department of Consumer Protection. For the 68
purposes of this section, "just and sufficient cause" means the existence 69
of circumstances which, in the opinion of a reasonable person 70
considering all of the equities of both the wholesaler and the 71
manufacturer or out-of-state shipper warrants a termination or a 72
diminishment of a distributorship as the case may be. For the purposes 73
of this section, "manufacturer or out-of-state shipper" means the 74
manufacturer or out-of-state shipper who originally granted a 75
distributorship of any alcohol, beer, spirits or wine product to a 76
wholesaler, any successor to such manufacturer or out-of-state shipper, 77
which successor has assumed the contractual relationship with such 78
wholesaler by assignment or otherwise, or any other manufacturer or 79
out-of-state shipper who acquires the right to ship such alcohol, beer, 80
spirits or wine into the state. 81
(3) [Nothing contained herein shall be construed to interfere with 82
the authority of the] The Department of Consumer Protection [to retain 83
or] may adopt reasonable regulations concerning the termination or 84
diminishment of a distributorship [held by a wholesaler for less than 85
six months] consistent with the provisions of this section. Where a 86
wholesaler has held a distributorship for not more than eighteen 87
months, no change on the list of authorized distributors or wholesalers 88 Substitute Bill No. 7183
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of a manufacturer or out-of-state shipper shall be made, except after 89
fourteen days' prior notice to the department and, by certified or 90
registered mail, to all such authorized distributors or wholesalers 91
affected by such change that appear on the list of the particular 92
manufacturer or out-of-state shipper, as maintained by the 93
department. The department may adopt regulations consistent with 94
this section. 95
(4) All hearings held hereunder shall be held in accordance with the 96
provisions of chapter 54. 97
(b) A wholesaler permit for beer shall be in all respects the same as a 98
wholesaler permit issued pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, 99
except that the scope of operations of the holder shall be limited to 100
beer; but shall not prohibit the handling of nonalcoholic merchandise. 101
The holder of a wholesaler permit for beer may apply for and shall 102
thereupon receive an out-of-state shipper's permit for direct 103
importation from abroad of beer manufactured outside the United 104
States. The annual fee for a wholesaler permit for beer shall be one 105
thousand dollars. 106
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 30-17
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsec. (a)(3) technical changes were made for conformity with
standard drafting conventions.
GL Joint Favorable Subst.