June 03: American Craft Brewery, a subsidiary of the Boston Beer Company has been fined $975,000 to settle the charges for selling1.4 million cases valued at more than $24 million in sales for the unregistered brand label registrations required by law, similar to States in India, but interestingly the offer of fine was made by the company and accepted by the government and there is no case of prosecution or sending senior executives in jail, as would have happened in India
The Damocles Sword hangs on the head of every individual, company or a firm everywhere in India. For any irregularity, there is prosecution and jail sentence provided in the excise policy. The US is still reeling under the prohibition days of 1920-1933 and the laws that were framed afterwards but apparently sending someone to jail before asking any questions, is still not the daily routine, which has become one of the obstacles for the wine industry not to prosper in India.
Officials said last Thursday that American Craft Brewery, a subsidiary of Boston Beer Co., has agreed to pay a $975,000 fine to the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) over charges that it sold unregistered beer and malt drinks in the state.
Under Watch since 2016
The SLA says it notified the company in 2016 that its distributer in the state had only received label approval for one product, Summer Blueberry Twisted Tea. SLA officials add that the company did not resolve the issue, and investigators found more than 1 million cases of unregistered malt beverages were sold in 2017.
Early this year, SLA Enforcement launched an investigation, and says it discovered more than $24 million dollars worth of beverages was being sold throughout New York State.
Boston Beer officials have taken the plea that it was purely a clerical error and the company had apparently no intention of saving on the excise duty illegally- an argument that would not hold any water in any Indian State.
"The law is the law, and American Craft Brewery has acknowledged that they were operating outside of it," said the Counsel to the SLA.
The point worth noting is that for such errors-technical or clerical, the State can put penalty of the client but there are no instant jail terms that make many people in the wine, beer and spirits business wary of the government agencies in India. It is also noteworthy that the company had offered to pay this fine and the Board at SLA accepted the offer.
Source- various media
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