REthink Wine Blog

Since our release of REthink Compliance as a free direct shipping compliance tool to all U.S. wineries in April, a question I am frequently asked is “how do you keep up with all of the changes in state shipping laws?”  Certainly maintaining the tool’s rule accuracy is of critical importance to the value it provides the winery user. 

The Changing Regulatory Landscape

It’s true that the regulatory landscape has changed dramatically in the last few years and continues to do so still.  Not just as a result of state law, but also alcoholic beverage agency regulation, state and federal judicial decisions, and even interpretations by state attorney generals.  Fortunately, most changes don’t occur overnight.  Generally, ample time to prepare for the change is given by setting an effective date that frequently is at least six months from the date the legislation was signed into law.  The recent changes in Wisconsin, effective October 1, 2008, are a perfect example of this.  Even changes to tax return and shipment reports are often announced some time in advance. 

REthink Compliance Council

But the question remains, how do you keep up with the changes?  There are many resources…from legislative alerts, agency websites, trade associations and the blogosphere.  I sign up for any and every legislative bill tracking service, association newsletter and industry compliance website available.  I attend seminars and symposiums.  I keep my ear to the ground and talk to other industry professionals.  But it’s not just me.  The REthink Compliance Council is a group of industry professionals, trade association members and lawyers with expertise in direct shipping law who oversee all of the legal content on which REThink Compliance is based.  The Council reviews changes to the law, court decisions and rule interpretations.  The primary goal is to ensure that the rules and law available to users is as current, accurate and complete as possible.

ILLINOIS REMINDER:  Speaking of changes to the law, keep in mind that Illinois drops reciprocity and will require a license to ship into the state beginning June 1, 2008 so it is a good idea to be prepared.  The Winery Shipper’s License application is now available at the ILCC website, http://www.state.il.us/lcc/WineShipApp.asp.  The license permits wineries producing less than 250,000 gallons annually to ship up to 12 cases per year to consumers and permits wineries producing less than 25,000 gallons annually to self-distribute up to 5,000 gallons per year to retailers.  The cost is $150.  You’ll need to file the usual excise and sales tax returns but Illinois is the 6th largest wine consumption state in the U.S. (Wine Handbook 2005, Adams Beverage Group) so it is a high value market to both consumers and trade.  Inertia’s Direct-to-Trade program is primed to assist wineries looking to take advantage of this new self-distribution opportunity so sign up now to be ready to roll on June 1st.

This entry was posted by Matthew Mann on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am and is filed under Compliance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.