An Act to Allow Shipment of Wine By Mail
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1281
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: BENNETT, CLARK, BRUNO, CRESSEY, TOBIN
Amends: 28-A MRSA §2, 28-A MRSA §1403-A, 28-A MRSA §2077, 28-A MRSA §2077-B

Legislative Document 
No. 1281 
S.P.412 
In Senate, March 11, 2003 
An Act to Allow Shipment of Wine By Mail 
Reference to the Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford. 
Cosponsored by Representative CLARK of Millinocket and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Representatives: BRUNO of Raymond, CRESSEY of Baldwin, TOBIN of Dexter. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 28-A MRSA §2, sub-§8, as amended by PL 1997, c. 373 , 
§ll, is further amended to read: 
8. 
Certificate 
of 
approval 
holder. 
"Certificate 
of 
approval holder" means a farm winery, an instate manufacturer, 
out-of-state manufacturer or out-of-state wholesaler licensed by 
the bureau. 
Sec. 2. 28-A MRSA §1403-A is enacted to read: 
§1403-A. 
Purchase of vine by mail 
1. 
Direct 
shipment 
of 
vine 
to 
residents. 
A 
person 
currently licensed as an alcoholic beverage producer, supplier, 
importer, 
wholesaler, 
distributor or 
retailer 
who 
obtains 
a 
certificate of approval as provided in section 1351 and, if a 
nonresident, a nonresident shipper's license as provided in this 
section may ship no more than the eguivalent of 24 1. 5 liter 
bottles of wine per month directly to a person who is 21 years of 
age or older for that person's personal use. 
2. 
Nonresident 
shipper's 
license 
application. 
Before 
sending 
a 
shipment 
pursuant 
to 
this 
section, 
a 
nonresident 
shipper must hold 
a 
certificate of approval 
as 
provided in 
section 1351 and file an application for a nonresident shipper's 
license with the bureau on a form issued by the bureau along with 
a copy of the nonresident shipper's current alcoholic beverage 
license issued in another state and a $100 registration fee. 
3. 
Delivery to resident 21 years or older. 
Wine shipped 
pursuant to this section may be shipped only to a person 21 years 
of age or older and must be for the recipient's personal use only 
and 
may 
not be 
for 
resale. 
A shipment must 
be 
subject to 
in-person delivery to the person who has ordered the shipment or 
a person residing at the resident's household who is 21 years of 
age or older. 
All containers used for shipment of wine must be 
conspicuously 
labeled 
with 
the 
words 
"CONTAINS 
ALCOHOL: 
SIGNATURE OF PERSON AGE 21 YEARS OR OLDER REOUIRED FOR DELIVERY." 
4. 
Prohibited shipping areas. 
A shipper may 
not ship 
pursuant to this section to any address in an area identified by 
the bureau as a prohibited shipping area. 
5. 
Nonresident shipper's license renewal. 
A nonresident 
shipper may renew its license with the bureau annually by paying 
a $100 renewal fee and providing the bureau with a true copy of 
its current alcoholic beverage license issued in another state. 
6. 
P~nt of state taxes. 
A shipper shall pay annually to 
the Department of Administrative and Financial Seryices, Bureau 
of Revenue Services the sales and excise taxes due on sales in 
the preceding calendar year. 
1. 
Annual report. 
A shipper shall report to the bureau 
annually by March 1st of each year the total number of bottles of 
wine, by type, shipped into the State the preceding calendar year. 
8. 
Audits. 
The bureau may perform audits of the records of 
a shipper under this section at any time. 
9. 
Violations. 
Violation of this section is a Class D 
crime. 
A violation of this section constitutes a violation of 
the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act under Title 5, chapter 10. 
The 
bureau may enforce 
the 
re~uirements of this section by 
administrative proceedings to suspend or revoke a 
nonresident 
shipper's license. 
The bureau may accept payment of an offer in 
compromise 
in 
lieu 
of 
suspension: 
such 
payments 
must 
be 
determined by rule adopted by the bureau. 
10. 
Adoption of rules. 
The bureau may adopt rules to carry 
out the purposes of this section. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this 
section are 
routine technical 
rules 
as 
defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 3. 28-A MRSA §2077, sub-§l, as amended by PL 1993, c. 
730, §49, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Importation of malt liquor or wine into the State. 
Ne 
Except as provided by section 1403-A, 
a 
person other than a 
wholesale 
licensee, 
small 
brewery 
licensee 
or 
farm 
winery 
licensee may not transport or cause to be transported malt liquor 
or wine into the State in a quantity greater than 3 gallons for 
malt 
liquor 
and 
quarts 
for 
wine, 
unless it was 
legally 
purchased in the State. 
A. 
All shipments of malt liquor or wine transported or 
caused 
to 
be 
transported by wholesale 
licensees, 
small 
brewery licensees eF.L farm winery licensees or certificate 
of approval holders into the State must be accompanied by an 
invoice, including the wholesale licensee's, small brewery 
licensee's 
or 
farm 
winery licensee's 
name 
and 
purchase 
number. 
Out-of-state 
wholesalers 
that 
ship 
wine 
to 
a 
certificate of approval holder as provided in section 2077-C 
shall comply with the provisions of this paragraph. 
Sec. 4. 28-A MRSA §2077-B, sub-§l, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
501, §6, is amended to read: 
1. 
Prohibition. 
A Except as provided by section l403-A, a 
person may not sell, furnish, deliver or purchase liquor from an 
out-of-state company by mail order. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows 
an in-state or out-of-state alcoholic 
beverage 
producer 
supplier, 
importer, 
wholesaler distributor, 
retailer or farm winery to ship up to 24 1. 5 liter bottles of 
wine per month directly to a person who is 21 years of age or 
older for that person's personal use.