BOULDER, Colo.--(Business Wire)--
ShipCompliant and Wine Institute continue to collaborate and
innovate on delivering up-to-the-minute direct shipping information to
the wine industry. This week they jointly launched a new version of
the direct shipping portal within the Wine Institute website
(http://wineinstitute.shipcompliant.com).
Created in 2004 and supported by ShipCompliant's geography-based
rules engine technology, the portal provides state by state shipping
rules, carrier shipping policy table, direct shipping permit
applications, state contact information, and a volume conversion tool
for use in reporting, all available to the public. ShipCompliant
launched the commercial version of this technology in 2006, which
provides compliance checks on orders and generates auto-populated
shipping and tax reports for wineries and retailers.
Steve Gross, Director of State Relations at Wine Institute,
explains that "direct shipment legislation has evolved over the past
two decades. While now allowing wineries the opportunity to
potentially ship to over 80% of adult U.S. consumers, this access
comes with a complex framework of licensing, tax payment and reporting
requirements that wineries must now navigate to stay in compliance."
Many wineries and consumers thought that the 2005 Supreme Court
ruling in Granholm v. Heald would be a silver bullet for opening all
states to unrestricted direct to consumer shipping and simplifying
compliance once and for all. Steve Gross explains that "contrary to
popular expectations, the Granholm decision in many cases put states
in a position where they had to quickly examine and replace their
existing shipping statutes with nondiscriminatory laws. The resulting
legislation was often complex, and the related compliance burden on
wineries has made providing a consolidated source for accurate
information, such as that provided through our website, even more
important to our members."
ShipCompliant technology is also in use in the Wine Institute Tax
Lookup tool, available exclusively to Wine Institute members and
providing an interface to query sales and excise tax rates for
consumer shipments based on state, county, city, zip code and specific
street address. Over 100 Wine Institute member wineries have signed up
for a Tax Lookup tool account.
"The tax lookup tool underlines ShipCompliant's commitment to
using our technology and research resources to make vital direct
shipping information easily accessible and usable for wineries," says
Jason Eckenroth, President of ShipCompliant. "We are thrilled to
continue our partnership with the Wine Institute in providing the
de-facto source for wine direct shipping information"
About ShipCompliant:
ShipCompliant is produced by Six88 Solutions, a Boulder, CO-based
software company. ShipCompliant offers a web based subscription
service that provides direct shipping compliance checks and reporting
for more than 600 wine brands throughout the United States.
(http://www.shipcompliant.com)
About Wine Institute:
Founded in 1934, Wine Institute is the public policy advocacy
association of California wineries that brings together the resources
of 1093 wineries and affiliated businesses to initiate and advocate
state, federal and international public policy to enhance the
environment for the responsible consumption and enjoyment of wine.
(http://wineinstitute.org)
Six88 Solutions/ShipCompliant
Jason Eckenroth, 303-996-2342
jeckenroth@shipcompliant.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
