Three-tier fight heats up in Texas

Court OKs out-of-state retailers to direct ship

A federal district court in Texas on May 22 issued an agreed preliminary injunction that paves the way for out-of-state retailers to ship wine directly to Texas consumers. Indeed, the retailers don’t need to apply or obtain a permit from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission according to the ruling.

The injunction came out of a year-old suit brought against the Texas Alcholic Beverage Commission Administrator by two wine retailers and three consumers.

Regulators are enjoined from enforcing provisions of the state code that “operates to impede or interfere with the sale and delivery, by a carrier permitted under the Tex. Alco. Bev. Code...of wine from an out-of-state retailer to an adult Texas consumer anywhere in Texas,” the injunction says.

The ruling underscores how challenges to the three-tier system are being pursued across the country on a number of fronts. It’s a trend that’s expected to continue in wake of Costco Wholesale Corp. successfully challenging a variety of control laws in Washington. That decision is being appealed by the state and wholesalers.