Section 18C. (a) The commission may issue to an individual who is both a citizen and resident of the commonwealth or to a corporation organized under the laws of the commonwealth whose directors are all citizens of the United States and a majority of them residents of the commonwealth, or to a limited liability company or limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the commonwealth whose members are all citizens of the United States and a majority of them residents of the commonwealth, a license to import alcoholic beverages into the commonwealth for use only in connection with the manufacture of food products, including ice cream. Nothing in this section shall authorize the holder of an importer's license issued under this section to sell alcoholic beverages as he is licensed to import only, or to export alcoholic beverages from the commonwealth into any other state or into a foreign country. A vote in a city or town pursuant to section 11 shall not prevent the granting or renewal of a license under this section. All alcoholic beverages purchased by a licensee under this section, and all alcoholic beverages shipped into the commonwealth pursuant to any such purchase, shall be warehoused at the warehouse facilities of the licensee and held in his physical possession at the warehouse. An importer under this section shall keep such records as the commission may prescribe and shall file with the commission, as often as it may require, duplicates or copies of those records. The commission shall have, at all times through its designated officers or agents, access to all books, records and other documents of each licensed importer relating to the licensee's importer business.

(b) The annual license fee for each importer under this section shall be computed based on the gallonage imported by the importer as follows:

5000 gallons or less per year: $22 per year

More than 5000 gallons but not more than 20,000 gallons per year: $44 per year

More than 20,000 gallons but not more than 100,000 gallons per year: $82 per year

More than 100,000 gallons but not more than 200,000 gallons per year: $110 per year

More than 200,000 gallons but not more than 1,000,000 gallons per year: $110 per year

Each additional 1,000,000 gallons per year: $111 per year.

(c) An applicant for an importer license under this section shall, at the time of filing an application, pay a fee based on a reasonable estimate of the amount of alcoholic beverages to be imported during the year covered by the license. A person holding an importer license under this section shall report annually at the end of the year covered by the license the amount of alcoholic beverages imported during that year. If the total amount actually imported exceeds the estimated amount on which the fee was based, the licensee shall pay an additional fee based on the excess.