Government affairs

Legislative Updates

Bipartisan bill would allow alcohol shipments through USPS

Reps. Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and 17 other bipartisan co-sponsors introduced the USPS Shipping Equity Act (H.R. 3287) today. The bill would allow the Postal Service to ship beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages directly from licensed producers and retailers to legal customers. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced a companion bill in the Senate (S. 1663).

Currently, the Postal Service is banned from shipping alcoholic goods. Private shippers such as FedEx and UPS are not prohibited and therefore are the only option for wineries, breweries, and other producers to have goods delivered directly to customers.

If passed into law, the bill would provide USPS two years to develop regulations, ensuring the Postal Service is prepared to safely deliver alcoholic beverages to adult consumers with appropriate identification checks. The bill also would expand access for direct-to-consumer alcoholic shipments. While USPS delivers to every address in the nation, private carriers do not. The current ban on alcohol shipments limits access to these products for many Americans, especially in rural areas. Additionally, shipping these products would provide a new source of needed revenue for USPS that could result in tens of millions of dollars in the coming years.

“In 2019, California wineries shipped 275.6 million cases of wine, yet consumers and manufacturers are prohibited from using the U.S. Postal Service to ship or deliver these everyday products. In most states, private carriers such as FedEx and UPS are already delivering alcoholic beverages. It makes no sense to create a competitive disadvantage for the USPS by barring them from these kinds of shipments, especially given the Postal Service’s dire financial condition,” Rep. Speier said.

“The USPS Shipping Equity Act would give rural producers access to another option for shipping alcoholic beverages, thereby increasing market access and enabling Central Washington businesses to continue to invest in our communities,” said Rep. Newhouse.

“All American businesses deserve the same access to the U.S. Postal Service when it comes to delivering their products to their consumers—and we all have a vested interest in making sure the USPS thrives,” Sen. Merkley said.

“NALC supports the bipartisan USPS Shipping Equity Act,” said NALC President Fredric Rolando. “This legislation would allow the Postal Service to expand its service opportunities while providing much-needed revenue for the agency.”

In addition to lobbying for this legislation, NALC sent a letter to Congress, cosigned by other postal unions and state and national alcohol distributing unions and associations, in support of the USPS Shipping Equity Act.

Click here to contact your members of Congress to support the USPS Shipping Equity Act.

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