123A.5 - PROHIBITED CONDUCT.
123A.5 PROHIBITED CONDUCT.
1. A brewer shall not commit any of the following actions:
a. Induce or coerce, or attempt to induce or coerce, any
wholesaler to engage in any illegal act or course of conduct.
b. Require a wholesaler to assent to any unreasonable
requirement, condition, understanding, or term of an agreement
prohibiting a wholesaler from selling the product of another brewer.
c. Fix, maintain, or establish the price at which a
wholesaler may resell beer, or to change, by any means, the price
charged to the wholesaler after beer has been ordered by the
wholesaler from the brewer.
d. Require any wholesaler to accept delivery of any beer or
any other item or commodity which shall not have been ordered by the
wholesaler.
e. Require a wholesaler without the wholesaler's approval to
participate in an arrangement for the payment or crediting by an
electronic fund transfer transaction for any item or commodity other
than beer, or to access a wholesaler's account for any item or
commodity other than beer.
f. Require or prohibit any change in the manager or successor
manager of any wholesaler who has been approved by the brewer as of
or subsequent to July 1, 1995, unless the brewer acts in good faith.
If a wholesaler changes an approved manager or successor manager, a
brewer shall not require or prohibit the change unless the person
selected by the wholesaler fails to meet the nondiscriminatory,
material, and reasonable standards and qualifications for managers or
successor managers consistently applied to similarly situated
wholesalers by the brewer. However, the brewer shall have the burden
of proving that the person fails to meet the reasonable standards and
qualifications.
g. Discriminate among the brewer's wholesalers in any
business dealings including, but not limited to, the price of beer
sold to the wholesaler or terms of sale offered to wholesalers,
unless the difference among its wholesalers is based on reasonable
grounds.
h. Fail to provide each wholesaler of the brewer's brand with
a written agreement which contains in total the brewer's agreement
with each wholesaler, and designates a specific exclusive sales
territory. The terms of written agreements executed, amended, or
renewed after July 1, 1995, shall be consistent with this chapter,
and this chapter may be incorporated by reference in the agreement.
i. Enter into an additional agreement with any other
wholesaler for, or to sell to any other wholesaler, the same brand of
beer or brand extension in the same territory or any portion of the
territory, or to sell directly to any retailer in this state.
j. Require a wholesaler to purchase one or more brands of
beer in order for the wholesaler to purchase another brand of beer
for any reason.
k. Require a wholesaler, by any means, directly to
participate in or contribute to any local or national advertising
fund controlled directly or indirectly by a brewer.
l. Require by a provision of an agreement or other instrument
in connection with the agreement that any dispute arising out of or
in connection with the agreement be determined through the
application of any other state's laws, be determined in federal court
sitting in a state other than Iowa, or be determined in a state court
of a state other than this state. A provision contained in any
agreement or other instrument in connection with the agreement which
contravenes this section shall be null and void.
2. A wholesaler who, pursuant to an agreement, is granted a sales
territory for which the wholesaler is primarily responsible or in
which the wholesaler is required to concentrate the wholesaler's
efforts, shall not make any sale or delivery of beer to any retail
licensee whose place of business is not within the territory granted
to the wholesaler unless agreed upon by all affected parties. Section History: Recent Form
95 Acts, ch 101, §5