American Beverage Licensees Executive Director John Bodnovich Statement on the TTB’s Ruling on Category Management and Tied House

Source: ABL

February 12, 2016

American Beverage Licensees (ABL) Executive Director John Bodnovich issued the following statement regarding the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) Ruling 2016-1, “The Shelf Plan and Shelf Schematic Exception to the ‘Tied House’ Prohibition, and Activities Outside Such Exception”.

“The guidance issued by the TTB concerning category management programs and tied house concerns is a good start to addressing the importance of maintaining a fair and vibrant beverage alcohol marketplace, and clarifies what is and is not permitted under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act.

“It’s also an important piece of a larger ongoing conversation about trade practices and anti-competitive behavior. Enforcement remains a critical component for this ruling to be taken seriously.

“With some states facing pressure to scuttle established and effective alcohol regulations in favor of relaxed trade practice laws, this ruling serves as a reminder of the vigilance and forethought required to avert anti-competitive practices from occurring in any segment of the industry.”

American Beverage Licensees (ABL) is the preeminent national trade association for beverage alcohol retailers. Direct retail beverage alcohol sales in the United States generate as many as 1.77 million well-paying jobs. ABL’s thousands of on-premise and off-premise licensee members are independent and often family-owned establishments.  The beverage retailing industry pays over $19.3 billion in federal taxes and $16.9 billion in state and local taxes. To learn more about ABL, visit www.ablusa.org.  For additional updates from ABL, follow @ablusa on Twitter and visit www.facebook.com/ablusa.