July 28 -- The Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit input regarding the current market structure and conditions of competition in the American markets for beer, wine, and spirits, including an assessment of any threats to competition and barriers to new entrants. Responses are sought by August 18, 2021.
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. E.O. 14036, 86 FR 36987 (July 14, 2021). Section 5(j) directed the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to submit a report within 120 days “assessing the current market structure and conditions of competition [for beer, wine, and spirits], including an assessment of any threats to competition and barriers to new entrants.” The report is to include discussion of unlawful trade practices; patterns of consolidation in production, distribution, or retail markets; and “any unnecessary trade practice regulations of matters such as bottle sizes, permitting, or labeling that may unnecessarily inhibit competition.”
Further, Section 5(k) of the Order directs the Treasury Secretary, through the Administrator of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), to consider within 240 days rulemaking updating TTB's trade practice regulations, revising or rescinding any regulations that “unnecessarily inhibit competition,” and “reducing any barriers that impede market access for smaller and independent brewers, winemakers, and distilleries.”
Consequently, to inform these efforts, we are seeking comment on these topics from participants in the beer, wine, and spirits markets, consumer groups, public interest groups, and interested private parties.
RFI:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/07/28/2021-16115/promoting-competition-in-the-beer-wine-and-spirits-markets