(a)(1) A wholesaler permit shall allow the bottling of alcoholic liquor and the wholesale sale of alcoholic liquor to permittees in this state and without the state, as may be permitted by law, and the sale of alcoholic liquors to vessels engaged in coastwise or foreign commerce, and the sale of alcohol and alcoholic liquor for industrial purposes to nonpermittees, such sales to be made in accordance with the regulations adopted by the Department of Consumer Protection, and the sale of alcohol and alcoholic liquor for medicinal purposes to hospitals and charitable institutions and to religious organizations for sacramental purposes and the receipt from out-of-state shippers of multiple packages of alcoholic liquor. The holder of a wholesaler permit may apply for and shall thereupon receive an out-of-state shipper’s permit for direct importation from abroad of alcoholic liquors manufactured outside the United States and an out-of-state shipper’s permit for direct importation from abroad of beer manufactured outside the United States. The annual fee for a wholesaler permit shall be two thousand six hundred fifty dollars.

(2) When a holder of a wholesaler permit has had the distributorship of any alcohol, beer, spirits or wine product of a manufacturer or out-of-state shipper for six months or more, such distributorship may be terminated or its geographic territory diminished upon (A) the execution of a written stipulation by the wholesaler and manufacturer or out-of-state shipper agreeing to the change and the approval of such change by the Department of Consumer Protection; or (B) the sending of a written notice by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, by the manufacturer or out-of-state shipper to the wholesaler, a copy of which notice has been sent simultaneously by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the Department of Consumer Protection. No such termination or diminishment shall become effective except for just and sufficient cause, provided such cause shall be set forth in such notice and the Department of Consumer Protection shall determine, after hearing, that just and sufficient cause exists. If an emergency occurs, caused by the wholesaler, prior to such hearing, which threatens the manufacturers’ or out-of-state shippers’ products or otherwise endangers the business of the manufacturer or out-of-state shipper and said emergency is established to the satisfaction of the Department of Consumer Protection, the department may temporarily suspend such wholesaler permit or take whatever reasonable action the department deems advisable to provide for such emergency and the department may continue such temporary action until its decision after a full hearing. The Department of Consumer Protection shall render its decision with reasonable promptness following such hearing. Notwithstanding the aforesaid, a manufacturer or out-of-state shipper may appoint one or more additional wholesalers as the distributor for an alcohol, spirits or wine product within such territory, provided such appointment shall not be effective until six months from the date such manufacturer or out-of-state shipper sets forth such intention in written notice to the existing wholesaler by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, with a copy of such notice simultaneously sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the Department of Consumer Protection. For just and sufficient cause, a manufacturer or out-of-state shipper may appoint one or more additional wholesalers as the distributor for a beer product within such territory provided such manufacturer or out-of-state shipper sets forth such intention and cause in written notice to the existing wholesaler by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, with a copy of such notice simultaneously sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the Department of Consumer Protection. For the purposes of this section, “just and sufficient cause” means the existence of circumstances which, in the opinion of a reasonable person considering all of the equities of both the wholesaler and the manufacturer or out-of-state shipper warrants a termination or a diminishment of a distributorship as the case may be. For the purposes of this section, “manufacturer or out-of-state shipper” means the manufacturer or out-of-state shipper who originally granted a distributorship of any alcohol, beer, spirits or wine product to a wholesaler, any successor to such manufacturer or out-of-state shipper, which successor has assumed the contractual relationship with such wholesaler by assignment or otherwise, or any other manufacturer or out-of-state shipper who acquires the right to ship such alcohol, beer, spirits or wine into the state.

(3) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to interfere with the authority of the Department of Consumer Protection to retain or adopt reasonable regulations concerning the termination or diminishment of a distributorship held by a wholesaler for less than six months.

(4) All hearings held hereunder shall be held in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54.

(b) A wholesaler permit for beer shall be in all respects the same as a wholesaler permit, except that the scope of operations of the holder shall be limited to beer; but shall not prohibit the handling of nonalcoholic merchandise. The holder of a wholesaler permit for beer may apply for and shall thereupon receive an out-of-state shipper’s permit for direct importation from abroad of beer manufactured outside the United States. The annual fee for a wholesaler permit for beer shall be one thousand dollars.

(1949 Rev., S. 4239; 1955, S. 2156d; 1971, P.A. 605, S. 1; 747, S. 1; 1972, P.A. 95, S. 1; P.A. 73-230; P.A. 75-186, S. 1, 3; 75-641, S. 3; P.A. 77-373; 77-614, S. 165, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 80, 85, 136; P.A. 79-131, S. 1, 2; P.A. 80-482, S. 4, 170, 191, 345, 348; P.A. 81-367, S. 2, 9; P.A. 84-432, S. 2, 3; P.A. 86-57, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-139, S. 11; P.A. 95-161, S. 6, 9; 95-195, S. 21, 83; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(d); P.A. 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 328; P.A. 17-77, S. 3.)

History: 1971 acts added Subsec. (1)(B) and (C) re termination of distributorship of products and diminishment of territories and specified that wholesaler permit allows “the receipt from out-of-state shippers of multiple packages of still wines and sparkling wines”; 1972 act specified products distributed in Subsec. (1)(B) as alcohol, beer, spirits or wine and added provisions re appointment of successor distributors; P.A. 73-230 made technical correction; P.A. 75-186 substituted “beer” for “malt beverages” in Subsec. (1); P.A. 75-641 changed manner of designating subsections, subdivisions, etc. for consistency with other statutes; P.A. 77-373 deleted word “beer” (added by P.A. 73-230) in provision re appointment of successor distributor; P.A. 77-614 replaced liquor control commission with division of liquor control within the department of business regulation, except as later limited by P.A. 78-303, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-131 deleted provision which had stated that termination of distributorship or diminishment of territory is effective not earlier than one year from date of notice unless there is just and sufficient cause for imposing an earlier date, defined meaning of just and sufficient cause for purposes of section and changed effective date of successor distributor’s powers (previously 90 days after notice), distinguishing between alcohol, spirits or wine products and beer; P.A. 80-482 made division of liquor control an independent department and abolished the department of business regulation, overriding provision of same act which would have placed the division within the public safety department; P.A. 81-367 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that termination or diminishment of a wholesaler’s distributorship may be effected only for just and sufficient cause if the wholesaler has had the distributorship for 6 months or more where prior law extended this protection only after 24 months, and to provide that the 6-month time period applies to the successors or assigns of a manufacturer or out-of-state shipper; P.A. 84-432 amended Subsec. (a) by specifying the conditions under which a manufacturer or out-of-state shipper might appoint an additional wholesaler as a distributor of beer, and by adding Subdiv. (4) requiring hearings to be held in accordance with chapter 54; P.A. 86-57 amended Subsec. (a) to add definition of “manufacturer or out-of-state shipper”; P.A. 93-139 made technical changes and added the annual fee for each wholesaler permit; P.A. 95-161 amended Subsec. (a) to change the type of alcohol that can be received from an out-of-state shipper from still and sparkling wines to alcoholic liquor, effective June 27, 1995; P.A. 95-195 substituted Department of Consumer Protection for Department of Liquor Control, effective July 1, 1995; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Department of Consumer Protection with Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 increased fee in Subsec. (a)(1) from $2,400 to $2,650 and increased fee in Subsec. (b) from $800 to $1,000; P.A. 17-77 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to add provisions re sending notice by certified mail, effective July 1, 2017.