A. In the event a manufacturer has not designated a wine and spirits wholesaler, or a brewer has not appointed a beer distributor as a designated wholesaler pursuant to subsection B of Section 3-116 of this title, to sell its product in the state, then every wine and spirits wholesaler that sells that product shall comply with the following posting requirements:
1. All wine and spirits wholesalers who choose to sell the Nondesignated Product shall file with the ABLE Commission on the fifteenth day of each posting month a proposed category percentage markup. A percentage markup shall be defined as a percentage of increase or decrease in relation to the wholesaler laid-in-cost for all items in each category. The percentage does not have to be the same for all categories, but in the original posting the percentage shall be the same for all items in the same category;
2. The proposed markups shall be computed by percentage in the four categories: Spirits, Cordials and Specialties, Wines-Domestic and Wines-Imported. In reporting to the ABLE Commission, the proposed markups shall be set forth in the following categories and order:
3. When a wine and spirits wholesaler desires to charge for expenses incurred in handling of individual bottles in fractional cases, or for transportation of their alcoholic beverage to persons licensed to purchase the same, the wine and spirits wholesaler shall on the fifteenth day of each posting month include with its proposed percentage posting the separate amounts, if any, to be charged for bottle handling and the amount of transportation, respectively, to be charged per case;
4. The proposed posting by the wine and spirits wholesaler shall list the percentage posting, and the handling and transportation cost without discrimination to all licensees regardless of their distance from the wine and spirits wholesaler's warehouse;
5. The ABLE Commission shall immediately upon receipt of all proposed category percentage postings, prepare a summation of the proposal and disseminate an electronic copy to all wine and spirits wholesalers. The summation shall contain the proposed percentage posting for each category, including proposed transportation charges as submitted by each wine and spirits wholesaler;
6. After filing the report required by this subsection, any and all wine and spirits wholesalers shall be permitted to register on or before the twenty-fifth day of each posting month an adjusted price. The adjusted price means percentage or individual item prices reported and registered by a wine and spirits wholesaler on or before the twenty-fifth day of the posting month in response to a lower percentage reported and registered by a competitor on the fifteenth day of the month. The adjusted price shall be no lower than the lowest percentage posted on the fifteenth day of said month by any wine and spirits wholesaler;
7. The adjusted price posted by a wine and spirits wholesaler in response to the lowest percentage posted by any wine and spirits wholesaler may, but need not be, posted in terms of a percentage and, if not so stated, shall state the price at which the wine and spirits wholesaler proposes to sell each individual item or size of item which he proposes to offer for sale during the posting period. The price postings, except for unmodified percentage markups, shall describe each item by brand, size, age, type and proof. Wines and champagnes shall reflect the alcoholic contents thereof;
8. The percentage markup utilized by a wine and spirits wholesaler in calculating its adjusted prices may be at any level between its originally posted percentage markup and the lowest percentage markup originally posted by any other wine and spirits wholesaler, but may not be above its original posting or below the lowest percentage posted by any wine and spirits wholesaler. Any fraction within four (4) decimals in determining final prices of bottles shall be raised to the next higher cent;
9. Each wine and spirits wholesaler may, upon the twenty-fifth day of the posting month, adjust his transportation and handling charges to a level no lower than that of a competitor or higher than its initial proposal on the fifteenth day of the posting month. Such bottle handling and transportation charge shall be in effect for the duration of the price posting which it accompanies. Provided, that if a licensee shall order any item in full case lots and the wine and spirits wholesaler does not have in inventory such item in full case lots, no bottle handling charge may be assessed to the licensee for the partial case;
10. All wine and spirits wholesalers shall, on the same date of filing an adjusted price posting with the ABLE Commission, transmit electronically a copy of its adjusted prices to each wine and spirits wholesaler in the state;
11. A wine and spirits wholesaler may include a minimum order charge of no less than One Dollar ($1.00) for any order of alcoholic beverages to a retail, mixed beverage, caterer or special event licensee that does not exceed the amount that such wholesaler designates as a minimum order in his proposed price posting. The minimum charge, if it is more than One Dollar ($1.00), and the amount of the minimum order shall be included in the price posting;
12. All price postings, as adjusted, shall become effective on the first day of the following month and remain in effect for a period of two (2) months. No other charge may be assessed by the wholesaler to the licensee except those expressly authorized by the provisions of the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Act or the rules of the ABLE Commission;
13. A price posting on a new item not previously stocked by a wine and spirits wholesaler shall be filed with the ABLE Commission prior to offering for sale, but no such item shall be listed at a lower price than is then, or will be, in effect during the price period for which the new item is filed, and within the percentage in the proper category of said wine and spirits wholesaler. In the event of a new item posting, mailings to wine and spirits wholesalers and those licensed to purchase wine and spirits in the state, as herein required, shall be sent on the same date as the postings;
14. When a wine and spirits wholesaler discontinues an item, or does not have an item in its warehouse or on order, the item shall be deleted from its price posting. When or if the item is restocked or replaced in the inventory of the wine and spirits wholesaler, it shall be reentered into the price postings as would a new item;
15. The sale of or the offer to sell alcoholic beverages at the prices quoted in such price posting before the same is in force and effect shall be grounds for the suspension or revocation of the wine and spirits wholesaler's license if the new price varies from the price then in effect; and
16. The provisions of this section are severable, and if any provisions of the same shall be void, the decision of the court so holding shall not affect or impair the remaining parts or provisions thereof.
B. This section shall not apply to products that have been designated by a manufacturer for distribution by a wine and spirits wholesaler or by a brewer for distribution by a beer distributor pursuant to subsection B of Section 3-116 of this title in the state.
Added by Laws 2017, c. 364, § 18, eff. Oct. 1, 2018. Amended by Laws 2019, c. 322, § 19, emerg. eff. May 7, 2019.