Any supplier and any wholesaler may contract with one another to establish the terms and conditions of their distribution arrangement. If any supplier and any wholesaler have entered into a mutually binding written agreement, the provisions of this chapter do not apply and the relationship, rights, and obligations as between the parties shall be governed in all respects by the provisions of the mutually binding written agreement, if the provisions are reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and not unconscionable. However, no provision of a mutually binding written agreement that is determined to be unreasonable, discriminatory, and unconscionable is of any effect, and the provision is severable from any other provisions. Any specific provision in the agreement is invalid if the provision is more restrictive of the wholesaler’s right than this chapter allows or if the provision lessens any obligation of the supplier as specified in this chapter; in that event the provisions of this chapter apply. A supplier may have a different agreement with different wholesalers in different brands.

In the event of a dispute as to whether the relationship, rights, and obligations as between a supplier and a wholesaler are governed by a mutually binding written agreement or by this chapter, any court of competent jurisdiction in this State may determine the issue by declaratory judgment upon proper application to the court by either party to the dispute.

Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 35-8A-3

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • written: include typewriting and typewritten, printing and printed, except in the case of signatures, and where the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2

Source: SL 1990, ch 300, § 3; SL 2008, ch 37, § 191.