Iowa Code 123A.3 – Termination and notice of cancellation
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1. Except as provided in subsection 5, a brewer or wholesaler shall not amend, modify, cancel, fail to renew, or otherwise terminate an agreement unless the brewer or wholesaler furnishes prior notification to the other party in accordance with subsection 2.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 123A.3
- Affected party: means a wholesaler, brewer, master distributor, successor brewer, or any person that is a party to an agreement. See Iowa Code 123A.2
- Agreement: means a contract or arrangement whether expressed or implied, oral or written, for a definite or indefinite period between a brewer and a wholesaler pursuant to which a wholesaler has been granted the right to purchase, resell, and distribute one or more brands of beer offered by a brewer, or a contract or arrangement in which a brewer grants to a wholesaler a license to use a trade name, trademark, service mark, or related characteristic and in which there is a community of interest in the marketing of the products of the brewer. See Iowa Code 123A.2
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Beer: means beer or high alcoholic content beer as defined in section 123. See Iowa Code 123A.2
- Brewer: means a person who is engaged in the manufacture of beer for the purpose of sale, barter, exchange, or transportation, a master distributor, or a fermenter, processor, bottler, packager, or importer of beer, or a successor brewer. See Iowa Code 123A.2
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Good faith: means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing in the trade and defined and interpreted under section 554. See Iowa Code 123A.2
- License: means a license issued by the state under this chapter to a hearing aid specialist. See Iowa Code 154A.1
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
- sell: means a transfer of title or of the right to use by lease, bailment, or any other means, but excludes a wholesale transaction with a distributor or hearing aid specialist, and excludes the temporary, charitable loan or educational loan of a hearing aid without remuneration. See Iowa Code 154A.1
- State: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Iowa Code 152E.3
- Territory: means the geographic area of primary sales responsibility designated by an agreement between a wholesaler and brewer for one or more brands of beer of the brewer. See Iowa Code 123A.2
- Wholesaler: means a person, other than a vintner, brewer, or bottler of beer, who sells, barters, exchanges, offers for sale, possesses with intent to sell, deals, or traffics in beer. See Iowa Code 123A.2
2. The notification required under subsection 1 shall be in writing and sent to the affected party by certified mail not less than ninety days before the date on which the agreement will be amended, modified, canceled, not renewed, or otherwise terminated. The notification shall contain all of the following:
a. A statement of intention to amend, modify, cancel, fail to renew, or otherwise terminate the agreement.
b. A statement enumerating the facts and reasons for the action, including documentation necessary to fully inform the wholesaler of the reasons for the action.
c. The date on which the action will take effect.
3. For each cancellation, nonrenewal, or termination, the brewer shall have the burden of showing that it has acted in good faith, that the notice requirements under this section have been complied with, and that there was good cause for the cancellation, nonrenewal, or termination.
4. Notwithstanding the terms or conditions of any agreement, good cause exists for the purpose of a cancellation, nonrenewal, or termination if all of the following occur:
a. The wholesaler fails to comply with a provision of the agreement which is both reasonable and of material significance to the business relationship between the wholesaler and the brewer.
b. The brewer first acquired knowledge of the failure described in paragraph “a” not more than twenty-four months before the date notification was given pursuant to subsection 2.
c. The wholesaler was given notice by the brewer of failure to comply with the agreement.
d. The wholesaler has been given thirty days in which to submit a plan of corrective action to comply with the agreement and an additional ninety days to cure the noncompliance in accordance with the plan, and has failed to correct the failure to comply with the provisions of the agreement.
5. A brewer may cancel, fail to renew, or otherwise terminate an agreement without furnishing any prior notification and without good cause as required in subsection 4 for any of the following reasons:
a. The wholesaler’s failure to pay any account when due and upon written demand by the brewer for the payment, in accordance with agreed upon payment terms.
b. The wholesaler’s assignment for the benefit of creditors, or similar disposition, of substantially all of the assets of the party’s business.
c. The insolvency of the wholesaler, or the institution of proceedings in bankruptcy by or against the wholesaler.
d. The dissolution or liquidation of the wholesaler.
e. The wholesaler’s conviction of, or plea of guilty or no contest to, a charge of violating a law or rule in this state which materially and adversely affects the ability of either party to continue to sell beer in this state, or the revocation or suspension of a license or permit to sell beer in this state for a period greater than thirty-one days.
f. Any attempted transfer of business assets of the wholesaler, ten percent or more of the voting stock of the wholesaler or the voting stock of any parent corporation of the wholesaler, or any change in the beneficial ownership or control of any wholesaler without obtaining the prior consent or approval as provided for under section 123A.6.
g. The wholesaler’s fraudulent conduct relating to a material matter on the part of the wholesaler in dealings with the brewer or its product. However, the brewer shall have the burden of proving fraudulent conduct relating to a material matter on the part of the wholesaler in any legal action challenging the termination.
h. The wholesaler distributes, sells, or delivers beer to a retailer whose premises are situated outside the geographic territory agreed upon by the wholesaler and the brewer as the area in which the wholesaler will sell beer purchased from the brewer, without the consent of the brewer and the distributor who has been assigned the territory by the brewer.