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Miami Vice? We’ll maybe….But the region’s drinks industry is definately now being scrutinized.
The heat is officially ON in Miami where the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Special Agents from the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (ABT), and the Miami District Office, have joined forces to put an end to a practice thought to be pervasive in the drinks biz.
Pay to play’ refers to the practice where manufacturers pay fees or offer incentives to retailers and bars in exchange for them stocking their products.
Such action is illegal in the US, but the law is widely flouted especially in the spirits industry.
Last week, the special task force launched a crackdown targeting alleged ‘pay to play’ schemes in the greater Miami area.
This action is said to be the largest trade practice enforcement operation that TTB has initiated to date against so called slotting fees’, an unlawful trade practice that according to the TTB “hurts law-abiding industry members and limits consumer choice” the TTB said in a statement.
