SB166 Alabama 2019 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Cam Ward

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2019

Title

Beer suppliers and wholesalers, regulation of contracts governing, revised, Sec. 28-9-5.1 added; Sec. 28-9-4 am'd.

Summary

The bill updates Alabama's beer contract rules by restricting what beer suppliers can do to wholesalers and by clarifying when possession and risk of loss pass from supplier to wholesaler.

What This Bill Does

It adds a comprehensive list of prohibited actions by suppliers toward wholesalers, including price control, dictating hours, coercing deliveries, pressuring purchases of other brands, and demanding financial or promotional payments. It requires written, exclusive-territory agreements and preserves existing contracts under renewal rules, with a temporary 90-day service period for a territory. It defines when possession and risk of loss transfer (possession when the wholesaler receives beer at its business during operating hours; risk passes at that time), and it limits supplier interference with wholesaler transfers, including reasonable timelines and nondiscriminatory standards.

Who It Affects

• Beer wholesalers and their owners/managers: gain stronger protections from supplier coercion and clearer rules on when they take possession and bear risk of loss, plus transfer-related protections.
• Beer suppliers: must follow new prohibitions and provide written, territory-specific agreements, while facing constraints on pricing, deliveries, promotions, and transfer actions.

Key Provisions

• Requires written agreements with each wholesaler detailing exclusive territories; renews existing contracts from before 1988 to align with this framework and allows a temporary 90-day period for service in a territory.
• Prohibits suppliers from actions such as fixing wholesale prices, dictating wholesalers' hours, adjusting supplier-to-wholesaler prices based on retailer pricing, coercing deliveries, requiring purchases of other brands, and pressuring promotional spending or audits.
• Forbids coercion or threats to induce illegal acts, and restricts demands for financial statements or other sensitive records as a condition of renewal.
• Adds Section 28-9-5.1 to define possession and risk of loss: possession occurs when the wholesaler receives beer at its place of business during operating hours; risk of loss transfers at that time; if received at the supplier's place, it is deemed received.
• Imposes transfer protections: suppliers cannot delay or block a wholesaler's business transfer for more than 30 days without good cause, and transfers must meet nondiscriminatory, material, and reasonable standards.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Alcoholic Beverages