Dear FWWS
Member,
It has come to our attention that
some industry groups have proposed that the WSLCB repeal WAC 314-52-110 (3)(d)
concerning competition in pricing. The current WAC section
states:
“(3) Beer, wine, or
spirituous liquor shall not be advertised, offered for sale, or sold by retail
licensees at less than acquisition cost. The provisions of this section shall
not apply to any sales made: …
(d) In an endeavor to meet the prices of a competitor selling the same article or product in the same locality or trade area and in the ordinary channels of trade.”
(d) In an endeavor to meet the prices of a competitor selling the same article or product in the same locality or trade area and in the ordinary channels of trade.”
Ironically, this exception made
little sense prior to the pricing freedoms gained under I-1183 since at that
time wine was sold only by uniform and delivered pricing. The effect of
repealing this exception now would be to limit the ability of retailers to meet
the pricing of competitors who have lower costs of acquisition (for example
through now legal volume discounts) should they choose to do
so.
FWWS has joined the opposition to
this repeal as an unnecessary new restriction on wine pricing. It is not clear
to us that under this change the Liquor Control Board would have the resources
to effectively police pricing under the newly liberalized law. It is clear to
us that wineries do not wish to return to the pre I-1183 red tape days of “price
posting” or “price filing” in order to facilitate State policing of price
competition. We believe the passage of I-1183 has given the Liquor Control
Board the opportunity to affirmatively and permanently step away from its role
of alcohol pricing regulation in lieu of refocusing on its core mission of
alcohol abuse prevention, nuisance abatement, and tax collection.
The deadline for comments has been extended until July 25th. If you would like to join FWWS in opposing the repeal of WAC 314-52-110(3)(d), please send your comments to Karen Mccall, Rules Coordinator at the WSLCB by email at rules@liq.wa.gov or by fax at 360-664-9689
Thank you,
Your All Volunteer FWWS Board
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment