Interprovincial booze barrier to come down in New Brunswick

New Brunswick’s barrier on interprovincial alcohol is coming down.

Residents in New Brunswick won’t have to worry if they have too much booze on them when coming into province before long.

Sweeping regulatory changes to the province’s Liquor Control Act will mean personal exemptions on liquor limits will be no more. Barriers will also be dropped to allow a freer flow of alcoholic beverages between most provinces.

“We have made it clear that we will do whatever we can to support internal trade across the country, and this is an important step,” said Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Jean-Claude D’Amours in a July 7 press release. “Direct-to-consumer sales of alcoholic beverages will give New Brunswick producers new business opportunities and a chance to access customers they could not reach previously.”

Alcoholic beverages can be shipped to consumer’s doors under the memorandum of understanding announced July 7. Producers will also be able to ship to consumers in 9 participating provinces and Yukon. Eligible jurisdictions are allowed under amendments to the Liquor Control Act.

The new regulations take effect Aug. 1.

The decision is part of a broader effort to drop red tape around interprovincial trade in the wake of an on-going trade war started by U.S. President Donald Trump.

New Brunswick has had its interprovincial liquor laws examined before. In 2012 resident Gerard Comeau was fined nearly $300 and had upwards of 14 cases of beer confiscated by officials.

“Can you believe that? Someone being charged and going to court because they buy a case of booze in Quebec and bring it to New Brunswick,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford during the closing press conference of the First Ministers meeting in Ontario’s cottage country Wednesday.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt was quick to jump in and mention how her province has eliminated the personal exemption and is working, like other provinces, to reduce the constraints around interprovincial trade. This includes the introduction of direct-to-consumer sales.

“I think we have made more progress than has been made in the long time on internal trade and removing exemptions, thankfully, with a partner in the federal government who’s also being aggressive on that,” Holt told reporters Wednesday in Huntsville, Ont.

“I appreciate the desire to see the details and see the when. I think you’ll find friends who are similarly impatient at this table of wanting to get to that simple clean document that all Canadians and entrepreneurs can understand.”

Joe Mackay is a co-owner of Yip Cider, a popular cidery in Long Reach, N.B. He said the new regulations won’t change a lot for operations in the immediate future. Most of the product brewed onsite is sold in the province, with some kegs shipping to Nova Scotia.

He said the big difference will be for consumers.

“The change will just allow consumers to be able to buy the products from other provinces online,” Mackay said. “This kind of aligns with how consumers like to buy things these days. If they want something, they want to be able to go online and order.”

The removal of much of the red tape will make things easier to expand to other markets if and when Yip decides to do so. Then comes the challenge of finding space on shelves in other provincial liquor stores.

With many provinces opening their borders for a freer flow of goods, the competition will ramp up.

“At the end of the day, it’s basically just competing with the other ciders that are out there and convincing the people that are making the decision on what goes on the shelf that your cider is a good fit and it’s something that consumers want,” Mackay said.

He adds he would like to see the province continue to support New Brunswick brewers with more options for consumers to pick from at the store.

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