§ 55-c. Agreements between brewers and beer wholesalers. 1. Purpose.\nIt is hereby declared to be the policy of this state, that the sale and\ndelivery of beer by brewers to beer wholesalers shall be pursuant to a\nwritten agreement. That further, the regulation of business relations\nbetween brewers and beer wholesalers is necessary and appropriate to the\ngeneral economy and tax base of this state and in the public interest.\n 2. Definitions. As used in this section, the following words shall\nhave the following meanings:\n (a) "Agreement" means any contract, agreement, arrangement, course of\ndealing or commercial relationship between a brewer and a beer\nwholesaler pursuant to which a beer wholesaler is granted the right to\npurchase, offer for sale, resell, warehouse or physically deliver beer\nsold by a brewer.\n (b) "Brewer" means any person or entity engaged primarily in business\nas a brewer, manufacturer of alcoholic beverages, importer, marketer,\nbroker or agent of any of the foregoing who sells or offers to sell beer\nto a beer wholesaler in this state or any successor to a brewer.\n (c) "Successor to a brewer" means any person or entity which acquires\nthe business or beer brands of a brewer, without limitation, by way of\nthe purchase, assignment, transfer, lease, or license or disposition of\nall or a portion of the assets, business or equity of a brewer in any\ntransaction, including merger, corporate reorganization or consolidation\nor the formation of a partnership, joint venture or other joint\nmarketing alliance.\n (d) "Beer wholesaler" and "wholesaler" means the holder of a\nwholesaler's license pursuant to section fifty-three of this article who\npurchases, offers to sell, resells, markets, promotes, warehouses or\nphysically distributes beer sold by a brewer.\n (e) "Good cause" means and shall be limited to:\n (i) (A) The implementation by a brewer of a national or regional\npolicy of consolidation which is reasonable, nondiscriminatory and\nessential. Such policy shall have been previously disclosed, in\nwriting, in reasonable detail to the brewer's wholesalers, and shall\nresult in a contemporaneous reduction in the number of a brewer's\nwholesalers not only for a brand in this state, but also for a brand in\ncontiguous states or in a majority of the states in which the brewer\nsells the brand. All affected wholesalers and affected brewers shall be\nafforded ninety days prior notice of the implementation of such policy,\nand such notice shall be provided by the brewer implementing said\npolicy. Further, an affected wholesaler who has actual knowledge of the\nintended implementation of such policy shall also notify each affected\nbrewer. The term "affected brewers" means all other brewers with an\nagreement with an affected wholesaler who is a multiple brands\nwholesaler. The term "affected wholesalers" means wholesalers who may\nreasonably be expected to experience a loss or diminishment of a right\nto distribute a brand, in whole or in part, as a consequence of a\nproposed consolidation policy.\n (B) An affected brewer receiving notice pursuant to this paragraph\nmay, within one hundred twenty days after receiving such notice,\nterminate an agreement with a multiple brands wholesaler in the event:\n(1) the total case purchases computed in twenty-four twelve ounce\nequivalence units by the wholesaler of the products of the affected\nbrewer amounted to two percent or less of the multiple brands\nwholesaler's total sales volume during the twelve month period preceding\nthe notice; and (2) the affected brewer, prior to such termination, pays\ncompensation to the multiple brands wholesaler.\n (ii) There is a failure by the beer wholesaler to comply with a\nmaterial term of an agreement required by subdivision three of this\nsection between the brewer and beer wholesaler, provided that: (A) the\nwholesaler was given written notice by the brewer of the failure to\ncomply with the agreement as pr
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