Regulation Today Around the Three-Tier System
The Eighth in a 10-Part Series on the Three Tier System of Alcohol Regulation
This is the eighth of a 10-part series examining the Three-Tier System of alcohol distribution in the United States. It is my intent to examine the details, history, impact, politics, and alternatives to this uniquely American set of alcohol laws.
Today, nearly 90 years after the Three-Tier System (TTS) with its mandate that all alcohol flow from producer to wholesaler to retailer was conceived and implemented, there are generally no efforts to strengthen the system. There is only an effort to defend the system as producers and retailers continue to make the case that the TTS is antiquated, hinders commerce, favors wholesalers and retards the growth of the alcohol industry. But, that effort to defend the system is undertaken with vigor, if not truthfulness.
The defense of the TTS has generally come from wholesalers and retailers in the face of calls for enhanced interstate direct-to-consumer shipments of alcohol using common carriers. Institutional opposition to expanding consumer access to the growing number of alcohol products via direct shipping comes from two primary sources.
The Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America (WSWA)
WSWA has consistently opposed all direct shipments of alcohol. For many years their claim was that minors would access alcohol via direct shipment. However, they have never presented any evidence this has occurred in any like the number of minors who obtain alcohol via brick-and-mortar stores that they champion. WSWA spends hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on campaign contributions to state lawmakers as well as regularly disseminates various claims of the harms that will come from direct-to-consumer shipments. These claims have never been proven to have a basis in fact.
The American Beverage Licensees
This nationwide association of wine retailers and taverns always opposes the direct shipment of alcohol. They generally work hand in hand to oppose any direct shipment of alcohol, which allows producers to bypass the TTS and deal directly with consumers, rather than wholesalers and retailers and providing consumers with access to products they often don’t find in local stores.