HARRISBURG (TNS) — A coalition representing wine and spirits producers said Thursday that a fee approved recently by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) will lead to higher prices at state stores, restaurants, bars, taverns and grocery stores across the Commonwealth.

The PLCB responded by arguing that what is called a bailment warehousing fee comes after it has paid to store products from the suppliers of its highest volume products for more than a decade, and added that it “has no plans to raise prices for consumers or licensees on the products it currently sells because of imposing this $1 per case fee on bailment suppliers,” unless they request a price increase.

The group sending out the press release on Thursday included the Pennsylvania Wine and Spirits Association (PWSA), Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), American Distilled Spirits Alliance (ADSA) and Wine Institute (WI). It noted its “strong opposition” to the fee, which was approved on July 16, “just two days after the proposal was first made public.”

“As representatives of the world’s wine and spirits producers, we strongly oppose this new fee that will undoubtedly increase prices for Pennsylvania consumers,” the coalition said in the release. “Further, this fee was imposed with barely any notice and no opportunity for producers to discuss its consequences, ask questions or propose alternatives. Now is not the time to impose new fees on wine and spirits in Pennsylvania. PLCB’s business partners and the public deserve a transparent accounting of agency operations before facing new fees that will raise consumer prices on alcohol.”

According to the group, the PLCB’s vote created a $1 per case bailment fee on all spirits and wine sold through state stores, effective Jan. 1, 2026, a move that will cost alcohol producers between $15 and $17 million annually, according to economic analysis conducted by the coalition. The fee is assessed by shipping package, meaning a four-pack of ready-to-drink cocktails will be subject to the same fee as a 12-bottle case of wine and spirits.

The PLCB explained in its statement that it uses two distribution centers to supply products to 580 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, 13 licensee service centers, and its FWGS.com fulfillment center. Since 2012, the PLCB said it has used a bailment process that allows the suppliers of its highest-volume products to store their products in the PLCB’s contracted distribution centers before their purchase by the PLCB and subsequent distribution to Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores.

The statement continued: “Every product shipped into a distribution center by a bailment vendor incurs a cost to receive, handle, and store it, regardless of how much of that product is ultimately purchased, distributed, and sold by the PLCB. The PLCB has absorbed that cost for 13 years, essentially providing free warehousing for bailment vendors.

“Given the current economic climate, the PLCB is no longer able to continue absorbing these operational costs as it has for the last 13 years. The $1 per case fee is intended to help offset the operational costs involved with warehousing services provided to bailment suppliers.”

According to the PLCB, the fee will

• Allow it to more effectively manage inventory levels and supplier performance, avoiding surplus inventory
• Optimize operational performance within its distribution centers as a result of additional inventory control
• Partially offset rising warehousing costs

The group, in its release, said the timing couldn’t have been worse.

“There has never been a more challenging time to make and sell spirits and wine,” the coalition said. “Competition from hemp and cannabis is fierce, tariffs have increased the price of imported alcohol and sharply reduced revenue from U.S. exports, and global alcohol consumption is down. This new fee is yet another hit to the cost of doing business in Pennsylvania.”

The coalition wrote that the PLCB indicated it will begin charging this fee because other control states do, adding that “only five other control states charge bailment fees. No other state combines that fee with PLCB’s bailment penalties related to warehouse inventory controls.”

Additionally, according to the group, “other states use a single, transparent formula to mark up all alcohol at the same rate. This ensures that prices and discounts suppliers give to control states are passed along to consumers. This is not true in Pennsylvania, where the PLCB has the power of flexible pricing, enabling it to mark up each product by any amount it wishes.

“While the PLCB states this increase is to be more in line with other control states, the big difference with Pennsylvania is how the shelf price consumers pay is determined,” the coalition said. “The PLCB establishes retail prices based entirely on the skyrocketing costs of doing business without legislative oversight. With the implementation of this new fee, Pennsylvania will have both a flexible markup and a bailment fee, harming wine and spirit consumers and producers alike.”

The PLCB said in its statement that bailment fees are a common practice within control jurisdictions such as Pennsylvania.

“In fact, eight control states charge bailment fees,” the PLCB said. “A $1-per-case fee — which works out to just over 8 cents per bottle in a standard 12-bottle case — is comparable to the bailment fees charged by eight other control jurisdictions.