InterProvincial Shipping Subscription Now Available
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- Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken
- Category: Latest News Latest News
- Published: 21 October 2019 21 October 2019
If your winery or liquor business has been confused by the changes to Canada's interprovincial shipping laws over the last few months, we have good news for you. Our related (new) web site, Alca Intelligence, has just launched our Essential InterProvincial Shipping Compliance Subscription service, which will provide you with 12 months of critical legal information on interprovincial shipping including update notifications by email whenever there are any significant changes. The service provides immediate access to a detailed review of the current state of interprovincial shipping laws including an explanation of the recent federal changes. It also provides a complete summary of the relevant provincial laws including links to statutes, regulations and policies. Finally, there are also sample "terms of use" clauses for vendors to consider. The complete package should provide sufficient legal information for wineries (or other liquor businesses) to understand the current state of the law and to make their own decisions as to whether or not to ship to other provinces.
We hope that this service will provide a more economical alternative to a legal opinion ... by providing essential legal information that will enable liquor businesses to make their own decisions at a more reasonable price point. More details on the Shipping Compliance Subscription and sign up is available here. Until October 31st, get 10% off the subscription by using the referral code SHIP2019 when you sign up.
BC Eliminates "On-Person" Alcohol Importation Limits
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- Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken
- Category: Latest News Latest News
- Published: 02 August 2019 02 August 2019
As of July 8, 2019, the BC Government has eliminated the limits on the amount of alcohol that may be brought into BC from another province so long as the alcohol is personally transported with the traveler (e.g. bringing back wine with you after a trip to Alberta). The previous limit for wine after such a trip was 9 litres (one case of 12 bottles). The new rules have no limit on amounts for personal consumption. The amended regulation is here: Order in Council 399/2019. I note that these rules do NOT apply for alcohol that is shipped from another province. The limits on such transactions, which would include e-commerce sales, remain at zero unless the alcohol is 100% Canadian wine purchased direct from a winery, in which case the limit is also an unlimited amount for personal consumption.
BC Opens Grocery Shelves to Imported Wine
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- Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken
- Category: Latest News Latest News
- Published: 10 July 2019 10 July 2019
The BC Government has amended its laws so as to permit the sale of imported wine on grocery store shelves. A limited number of grocery stores hold licenses for wine sales in BC. The previous government's policy only allowed for the sale of BC wine on those shelves. However, the earlier policy caused a WTO trade challenge by numerous countries (which challenge has been commented upon here in many posts). The new policy comes as a result of a side letter to the CUSMA trade agreement under which the BC government committed to eliminating the earlier restrictions. See policy directive here: Allowing Imported Wine on Grocery Store Shelves.
Ontario Rolls Back Federal Shipping Law Reform (Temporarily?)
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- Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken
- Category: Latest News Latest News
- Published: 08 July 2019 08 July 2019
The Ontario Provincial Government has brought new liquor regulations into force that effectively block (at least temporarily) the recent federal shipping law reforms (see earlier article). The recent federal reforms removed the 91 year old federal prohibition on the interprovincial shipment of alcohol. As a result of those reforms, the only restrictions on interprovincial alcohol shipment are now any applicable provincial laws. Up until now, Ontario's provincial laws did not specifically address the importation of alcohol into that province (the LCBO had issued a "policy" on this matter but a policy is not a law). However, the Ontario government has now introduced a new regulation (Importation of Liquor into Ontario) that prevents the importation of alcohol into Ontario from other provinces unless the alcohol is imported by the LCBO or under its authority. This change will make it illegal for Ontario consumers to import wine directly from wineries in other provinces (since the importation would not be authorized by the LCBO). Nevertheless, on an interesting and potentially positive note, the new provision is scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2020. Presumably, the Ontario government is intending that prior to that time, they will introduce additional changes or systems such that the blanket prohibition is no longer needed.
Federal Interprovincial Shipping Restriction Eliminated After 91 Years
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- Written by Mark Hicken Mark Hicken
- Category: Latest News Latest News
- Published: 24 June 2019 24 June 2019
On Friday, June 21st, Bill C-97 (the 2019 Budget Implementation Act) was given Royal Assent, which means that the Bill became law in Canada. One of the sections of this Bill amended the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act so as to completely remove the federal restriction on the interprovincial shipment and transport of alcohol which has been in place since 1928. As a result of these changes, there is no longer any federal prohibition on the movement of alcohol between provinces. Customers of wineries (or of other alcohol shippers) may still be subject to any relevant provincial laws on the possession of alcohol that has been imported from another province but the federal law is no longer. This is a very positive step in the long fight to reform Canada's post-prohibition shipping restrictions. More analysis in the days and weeks ahead.