As a growing number of festivals and events are being cancelled due to the coronavirus, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) recently announced an exception to its policy on returns of products purchased for events.
From TTB’s weekly newsletter:
The federal consignment sales rules generally prohibit the sale or purchase of alcohol beverage products with the privilege of return. See 27 CFR 11.21. Returns for ordinary and usual commercial reasons arising after the product has been sold are not prohibited, but the return or exchange of a product because it is overstocked or slow-moving does not constitute a return for ordinary and commercial reasons. See 27 CFR 11.45.
Local officials and event organizers have begun announcing cancellations of widely-attended events, such as parades, festivals, fairs, concerts, and sporting events based on concerns about COVID-19. These announcements may be made after wholesalers and retailers purchased large quantities of products to sell during those events.
Given the unexpected and widespread nature of the concerns involving COVID-19, TTB will not consider returns of alcohol beverage products purchased to sell during such cancelled events to violate federal consignment sales rules provided the products were not initially purchased or sold with the privilege of return. Even though such returns are lawful, a producer or wholesaler is not required to accept returns of such products.
If you have any questions concerning our consignment sales rules, you may send them to tradepractices@ttb.gov.
In the same newsletter, TTB also announced its participation in industry events over the next few months is cancelled.
We’ll update our Outreach Program Page once we can provide a status of events that will be held later in the year. But don’t worry, we’re considering other ways to deliver the educational materials we’d planned to present at these events.
If you have questions, please contact the Office of Industry and State Outreach.
TTB also released its 2019 annual report.