WSWA Applauds House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy’s Hearing

NEWS RELEASE

March 18, 2010

WSWA Applauds House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy’s Hearing on “Legal Issues Concerning State Alcohol Regulation”

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) President and CEO Craig Wolf issued the following statement today applauding congressional focus on problems associated with deregulating alcohol.

“WSWA welcomes congressional focus on the problems created by alcohol deregulation. In contrast to the highly deregulated system in the United Kingdom, the United States has the safest and most efficient system of manufacturing, distributing and retailing in the world.

Today’s state-based framework of regulating alcohol was developed specifically because alcohol is different from other consumer goods and therefore must be regulated differently. Efforts to deregulate alcohol are supported by those who believe alcohol should be treated no differently than books, DVDs and mayonnaise.

Banning alcohol didn’t work—we learned this from our country’s experiment with Prohibition. Easy and cheap access to alcohol is certainly not the answer either—we know this from the many social ills that deregulation has brought on in the United Kingdom where the media reports daily about the abuse of alcohol and binge drinking by minors. In the UK, rising crime and other societal costs attributed to alcohol abuse are regular features on the news, and are being addressed at the highest levels of government.

The answer is appropriate regulation and market structure. We need to ensure states are able to enforce their own regulatory framework and protect that framework from endless and destructive litigation. We need to maintain the three-tier system, which is a unique combination of federal and state laws that strike an effective balance between commerce and public safety. Our system is quite simple, yet amazingly effective. And it has created a different social climate—a different social consciousness.

America’s three-tier system stimulates innovation and competition and provides consumers with unprecedented choice and variety, while at the same time requiring reasonable and appropriate regulations promoting temperance, ensuring effective state and federal tax collection and creating a safe and orderly market for the distribution of alcohol.

The negative societal consequences that arise when there is an unrestrained and unaccountable trade in alcohol must be avoided. We hope this hearing will help educate members of Congress on the dangers of deregulation and the need to ensure appropriate regulations are upheld. This hearing was the beginning towards that end.”

President and CEO

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America