[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 27USC204]
TITLE 27--INTOXICATING LIQUORS
CHAPTER 8--FEDERAL ALCOHOL ADMINISTRATION ACT
SUBCHAPTER I--FEDERAL ALCOHOL ADMINISTRATION
Sec. 204. Permits
(a) Who entitled thereto
The following persons shall, on application therefor, be entitled to
a basic permit:
(1) Any person who, on May 25, 1935, held a basic permit as
distiller, rectifier, wine producer, or importer issued by an agency
of the Federal Government.
(2) Any other person unless the Secretary of the Treasury finds
(A) that such person (or in case of a corporation, any of its
officers, directors, or principal stockholders) has, within five
years prior to the date of application, been convicted of a felony
under Federal or State law or has, within three years prior to date
of application, been convicted of a misdemeanor under any Federal
law relating to liquor, including the taxation thereof; or (B) that
such person is, by reason of his business experience, financial
standing, or trade connections, not likely to commence operations
within a reasonable period or to maintain such operations in
conformity with Federal law; or (C) that the operations proposed to
be conducted by such person are in violation of the law of the State
in which they are to be conducted.
(b) Refusal of permit; hearing
If upon examination of any application for a basic permit the
Secretary of the Treasury has reason to believe that the applicant is
not entitled to such permit, he shall notify the applicant thereof and,
upon request by the applicant, afford him due notice and opportunity for
hearing on the application. If the Secretary of the Treasury, after
affording such notice and opportunity for hearing, finds that the
applicant is not entitled to a basic permit hereunder, he shall by order
deny the application stating the findings which are the basis for his
order.
(c) Form of application
The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe the manner and form of
all applications for basic permits (including the facts to be set forth
therein) and the form of all basic permits, and shall specify in any
basic permit the authority conferred by the permit and the conditions
thereof in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter. To the
extent deemed necessary by the Secretary of the Treasury for the
efficient administration of this subchapter, separate applications and
permits shall be required by the Secretary of the Treasury with respect
to distilled spirits, wine, and malt beverages, and the various classes
thereof, and with respect to the various classes of persons entitled to
permits hereunder. The issuance of a basic permit under this subchapter
shall not operate to deprive the United States of its remedy for any
violation of law.
(d) Conditions
A basic permit shall be conditioned upon compliance with the
requirements of section 205 of this title (relating to unfair
competition and unlawful practices) and of section 206 of this title
(relating to bulk sales and bottling), with the twenty-first amendment
and laws relating to the enforcement thereof, and with all other Federal
laws relating to distilled spirits, wine, and malt beverages, including
taxes with respect thereto.
(e) Revocation, suspension, and annulment
A basic permit shall by order of the Secretary of the Treasury,
after due notice and opportunity for hearing to the permittee, (1) be
revoked, or suspended for such period as the Secretary of the Treasury
deems appropriate, if the Secretary finds that the permittee has
wilfully violated any of the conditions thereof, provided that for a
first violation of the conditions thereof the permit shall be subject to
suspension only; or (2) be revoked if the Secretary finds that the
permittee has not engaged in the operations authorized by the permit for
a period of more than two years; or (3) be annulled if the Secretary
finds that the permit was procured through fraud, or misrepresentation,
or concealment of material fact. The order shall state the findings
which are the basis for the order.
(f) Service of orders
Orders of the Secretary with respect to any denial of application,
suspension, revocation, annulment, or other proceedings, shall be served
(1) in person by any officer or employee of the Secretary designated by
him or any internal revenue or customs officer authorized by the
Secretary for the purpose, or (2) by mailing the order by registered
mail, addressed to the applicant or respondent at his last known address
in the records of the Secretary.
(g) Duration
A basic permit shall continue in effect until suspended, revoked, or
annulled as provided herein, or voluntarily surrendered; except that (1)
if leased, sold, or otherwise voluntarily transferred, the permit shall
be automatically terminated thereupon, and (2) if transferred by
operation of law or if actual or legal control of the permittee is
acquired, directly or indirectly, whether by stock-ownership or in any
other manner, by any person, then such permit shall be automatically
terminated at the expiration of thirty days thereafter: Provided, That
if within such thirty-day period application for a new basic permit is
made by the transferee or permittee, respectively, then the outstanding
basic permit shall continue in effect until such application is finally
acted on by the Secretary of the Treasury.
(h) Appeal; procedure
An appeal may be taken by the permittee or applicant for a permit
from any order of the Secretary of the Treasury denying an application
for, or suspending, revoking, or annulling, a basic permit. Such appeal
shall be taken by filing, in the court of appeals of the United States
within any circuit wherein such person resides or has his principal
place of business, or in the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia, within sixty days after the entry of such order, a
written petition praying that the order of the Secretary be modified or
set aside in whole or in part. A copy of such petition shall be
forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Secretary, or any
officer designated by him for that purpose, and thereupon the Secretary
shall file in the court the record upon which the order complained of
was entered, as provided in section 2112 of title 28. Upon the filing of
such petition such court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm,
modify, or set aside such order, in whole or in part. No objection to
the order of the Secretary shall be considered by the court unless such
objection shall have been urged before the Secretary or unless there
were reasonable grounds for failure so to do. The finding of the
Secretary as to the facts, if supported by substantial evidence, shall
be conclusive. If any party shall apply to the court for leave to adduce
additional evidence, and shall show to the satisfaction of the court
that such additional evidence is material and that there were reasonable
grounds for failure to adduce such evidence in the proceeding before the
Secretary, the court may order such additional evidence to be taken
before the Secretary and to be adduced upon the hearing in such manner
and upon such terms and conditions as to the court may seem proper. The
Secretary may modify his findings as to the facts by reason of the
additional evidence so taken, and he shall file with the court such
modified or new findings, which, if supported by substantial evidence,
shall be conclusive, and his recommendation, if any, for the
modification or setting aside of the original order. The judgment and
decree of the court affirming, modifying, or setting aside, in whole or
in part, any such order of the Secretary shall be final, subject to
review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or
certification as provided in section 1254 of title 28. The commencement
of proceedings under this subsection shall, unless specifically ordered
by the court to the contrary, operate as a stay of the Secretary's
order.
(i) Limitation
No proceeding for the suspension or revocation of a basic permit for
violation of any condition thereof relating to compliance with Federal
law shall be instituted by the Secretary more than eighteen months after
conviction of the violation of Federal law, or, if no conviction has
been had, more than three years after the violation occurred; and no
basic permit shall be suspended or revoked for a violation of any such
condition thereof if the alleged violation of Federal law has been
compromised by any officer of the Government authorized to compromise
such violation.
(Aug. 29, 1935, ch. 814, title I, Sec. 104, formerly Sec. 4, 49 Stat.
978; 1940 Reorg. Plan No. III, Sec. 2, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F.R. 2108,
54 Stat. 1232; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, Sec. 32(a), 62 Stat. 991; May 24,
1949, ch. 139, Sec. 127, 63 Stat. 107; Pub. L. 85-791, Sec. 14, Aug. 28,
1958, 72 Stat. 946; renumbered title I, Sec. 104, and amended Pub. L.
100-690, title VIII, Sec. 8001(a)(1), (2), (b)(2), (3), Nov. 18, 1988,
102 Stat. 4517, 4521.)
Codification
In subsec. (h) of this section, ``section 1254 of title 28'' was
substituted for ``sections 239 and 240 of the Judicial Code, as
amended'', on authority of act June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 869, the
first section of which enacted Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial
Procedure.
Amendments
1988--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100-690, Sec. 8001(b)(2), substituted
``subchapter'' for ``chapter'' wherever appearing.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 100-690, Sec. 8001(b)(3), made technical
amendment to references to sections 205 and 206 of this title to reflect
renumbering of corresponding sections of original act.
1958--Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 85-791, in third sentence, substituted
``transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Secretary, or'' for
``served upon, the Secretary, or upon any'', substituted ``file in the
court'' for ``certify and file in the court a transcript of'', and
inserted ``as provided in section 2112 of title 28'', and in fourth
sentence, substituted ``petition'' for ``transcript''.
Change of Name
``Court of appeals'' was substituted for ``circuit court of
appeals'' pursuant to act June 25, 1948, as amended by act May 24, 1949.
