BOSTON, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019
Global tax software provider Sovos today announced that the New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) has selected ShipCompliant Product Registration Online (PRO), an online submission and approval system for state alcohol agencies, to digitize its brand registration and renewal process for the sale of beer, wine and spirits.
The NYSLA is one of the nation’s largest state liquor and alcohol regulatory agencies, currently managing more than 39,000 active brands, and will become the largest state to fully automate its beverage alcohol product registration online via the PRO platform. PRO’s user-friendly compliance interface will accelerate NYSLA’s brand registration processing, cutting down expected wait times from weeks to hours in many cases, while also reducing paper waste and shipping costs.
“In order to remain competitive, our manufacturers and wholesalers require the ability to quickly introduce new products into the marketplace. Our partnership with ShipCompliant PRO helps us achieve this goal by fully automating the brand label registration and renewal process in New York, creating an approval process that is faster, easier and more cost-effective for those we serve,” said State Liquor Authority Chairman Vincent Bradley.
New York’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Law requires all brand labels for beer, low-alcohol wine, liquor, hard cider and wine products to be registered and approved by the SLA before they are brought to market. Between 2016-2017, the agency processed an average of 40,000 renewal applications per year, generating $36.4 million and $43.4 million in revenue, respectively. In addition, the authority mailed more than 23,000 application letters, 800 renewal packets and 650 rejection packets in 2018 – translating into at least $125,000 in postage costs that taxpayers can expect to save next year.
“Many state alcohol agencies continue to rely on costly, confusing and time-consuming manual processes for alcohol beverage brand registration,” said Larry Cormier, vice president and general manager of ShipCompliant by Sovos. “By bringing New York onto the PRO system, we not only help the state cut down on costs and time spent on brand registrations, but we will also help New York licensed wholesalers, importers and retailers to get their products to market faster.”
Brand label renewals for spirits products are available through the PRO system during this renewal period, running until September 30. New brand registrations and renewals for all other products will be available by early 2020. In addition, with the digital transition, the NYSLA is moving to a rolling three-year renewal process, and users can easily bulk renew all products with a “select all” button instead of checking off brands one-by-one on paper.
With ShipCompliant PRO, users can submit applications, along with any state fees, for speedy review. Agencies can examine all application details within the PRO portal, leave comments and approve registrations without any paper or postage required. ShipCompliant by Sovos retains all historical data for users securely in the cloud.
PRO label submissions are available in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and South Dakota.
To learn more about Product Registration Online from ShipCompliant by Sovos, visit productregistrationonline.com.
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About ShipCompliant by Sovos
ShipCompliant has been the leader in automated alcohol beverage compliance tools for more than 15 years, providing a full suite of cloud-based solutions to wineries, breweries, distilleries, importers, distributors and retailers to ensure they meet all federal and state regulations for direct-to-consumer and three-tier distribution. ShipCompliant’s solutions reduce risk, lessen the burden of compliance, accelerate bringing products to market, and enable revenue growth. With more than 40 partner integrations, ShipCompliant leads a robust ecosystem of technology partnerships, enabling powerful complementary solutions. For more information, please visit ShipCompliant.com.
About The New York State Liquor Authority
The New York State Liquor Authority regulates and controls the manufacture, sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages within the State. The Authority works with local law enforcement agencies and localities across the State to ensure compliance with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. In addition, the Authority issues and renews licenses and permits to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers of alcoholic beverages.
