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Charivari (Spring 1999)Wine Safety Fund? Excuse Me?by Wilhelm Franke What was soon to be the demise of another extortionist government program has recently taken a familiar turn — no end in sight. Since the early 1990s, the Calif. Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has required all California wineries with production of more than 5,000 gallons to pay annual fees into a Wine Safety Fund. Sole purpose? To test for lead in wine — in all wine made and imported into California. The California wineries are made to pay for testing of their own wine plus out-of-state and foreign wine. In addition to paying for the testing program, California wineries and retailers are subject to confiscation of their wine for testing. "In some cases we do pay for the wine collected from retailers," said Susan Loscutoff of the Department of Health’s Food and Drug Branch. According to the law’s Historical and Statutory Notes (d) on Section I of Stats. 1993. c. 1025 (S.B. 1022), results of the testing "by state and federal regulators has since demonstrated that the vast majority of wine sold in California contains lead at levels no higher than those often seen in many fresh fruits, vegetables, and other wholesome agricultural products, and that the levels of lead, if any, in California’s wines are generally among the world’s lowest." A proposal to continue the Wine Safety Fund beyond its intended life to Jan. 1, 2000 is getting strong consideration by the ABC and (surprise, surprise) strong lobbying support from the Wine Institute, a public policy advocacy association. According to Yvonne Williams of the Wine Institute, despite the positive results of the testing the need for program continuance is due to a significant "over-funding of the program." The overage collected from wineries cannot be returned to them because "there is no reimbursement clause in the law," Williams explained. Over-funding of a government program? Excess taxation. According to Williams, this fund is necessary for wineries because they are "paying for protection." What kind of racket are we involved in? Protection from what? "Lawsuits," said Williams. This is a full crock. Jan. 1, 1992, before the Wine Safety Fund was instituted, California wineries agreed unilaterally to discontinue the use of lead foil caps on wine bottles. This unified action by California wineries eliminated the potential for such lawsuits. So what’s going on here? The government is particularly adept at coercing money from taxpayers and even more adept at spending it. With this bloated, over-funded, frivolous, ill-conceived program it shows that it has is no true legitimacy. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary includes in its definition of extortion: 2: a gross overcharge. Any amount of money or wine collected from California wineries for the Wine Safety Fund is extortion. Written by Wilhelm Franke: Spring 1999 Issue |
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