Alberta is launching a trade challenge against Ontario over liquor policies that allegedly discriminate against Alberta small brewers.
“It doesn’t make sense that it’s easier to sell Alberta beer in Tokyo than in Toronto,” Alberta Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous said Monday.
“We are asking for equitable market access in Ontario so Alberta’s liquor producers can benefit the same way Ontario’s producers do by selling their product in Alberta.”
The action is under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. It comes after Ontario-based Steam Whistle Brewing and Saskatchewan-based Great Western Brewing Company successfully challenged Alberta in court over the graduated markup schemes for small brewers first announced in 2015 and rolled back in 2016.
Alberta contends its open liquor market makes it harder for the province’s small craft brewers to compete against larger out-of-province breweries, so it provided them subsidies to help them compete.
Alberta is targeting Ontario because that province has the largest liquor market in Canada. Bilous said Ontario’s import policies are much more restrictive.
The Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis commission (AGLC) lists 745 Ontario products among the 3,700 available in Alberta liquor stores. By contrast, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) lists only 20 Alberta products.
Also Monday, the government said it cancelling the Alberta Small Brewers Development Program on Dec. 15 to comply with a trade ruling in June that found it contravened the Agreement on Internal Trade.
Small brewers to pay lower markups
In its place, Alberta will impose a graduated markup for brewers that produce under 50,000 hectolitres a year. Brewers will be able to apply for a lower markup based on their production, regardless of where they are from.
Finance Minister Joe Ceci, who is responsible for the AGLC, said the development program has grown the province’s fledgling craft brewing industry. But it has run afoul of inter-provincial trade agreements.
In June, a three-person panel ruled that the program violated the provincial trade agreement. Alberta was given six months to amend or repeal the program. The ruling was the result of a complaint lodged two years ago by Calgary beer importer Artisan Ales Consulting Ltd.
In October 2015, the Alberta government introduced a lower markup for beers produced by smaller brewers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
The province rolled back the policy in August 2016, instituting a markup of $1.25 a litre for all beer. At the same time, it introduced a rebate for Alberta craft brewers, known as the Alberta Small Brewers Development program, to help the craft beer industry in the province.
Artisan Ales alleged both measures put the company at a disadvantage and caused a significant drop in sales.