Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Antitrust Violations 10, Wine 0

Tony Mauro of the Legal Times sez:

Wolf is right, in that the 21st Amendment led to creation of the three-tier (producers, wholesalers, retailers) state-regulated system for purveying wine, beer and liquor. That system is under challenge fairly regularly, most recently in the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Granhom v. Heald. The Court upheld the system, but said the 21st Amendment does not allow states to violate the Commerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state wineries seeking to sell direct to their residents.

"The three-tier system is alive and kicking," said the association's co-general counsel Karin Moore in an interview at the event. "That's what we are celebrating tonight." The system provides licensed, safe and accountable distribution, she said. But Moore, formerly with the Federal Trade Commission and with O'Melveny & Myers in D.C., acknowledged that challenges persist, some brought on by growing Internet sales and others by antitrust concerns. She had just returned from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, which heard arguments Tuesday in TWFS v. Franchot, an antitrust challenge to aspects of Maryland's alcohol regulations.

No comments:

Post a Comment