State Liquor Authority

Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control: Oversight of Wholesalers’ Compliance with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law

In New York State, the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages is regulated by the State Liquor Authority, a three-member Board of commissioners that is supported by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. We examined the actions taken by the Division in overseeing the activities of wholesalers, and found that a number of improvements were needed. For example, the Division did not make its regulatory bulletins readily available for reference, relied on complaints rather than active monitoring to identify violations, generally did not follow up to ensure that previously identified violations had been corrected, and did not always adequately document the reasons why investigations were handled the way they were. We recommended various improvements in the Division’s practices and procedures.

For a complete copy of Report 2005-S-33 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.