Wine merchant says cigarette profits could fund alcohol deliveries

A wine merchant has criticised plans by Iceland’s state alcohol and tobacco retailer, ÁTVR, to offer home delivery of alcohol, saying profits from tobacco sales subsidise alcohol retailing. The plans were reported by mbl.is, which said a final decision had not been made.

Arnar Sigurðsson of wine wholesaler Santé questioned what legal authority ÁTVR would have for the service, how it would fit with a court ruling in the Smáríkið online sales case, and how it would be funded. He said ÁTVR uses profits from tobacco wholesale to subsidise alcohol sales, comparing the arrangement with Iceland Post.

Sigurðsson pointed to a ruling this spring in which a representative of Smáríkið was convicted by Reykjanes District Court for selling a bag-in-box of white wine through an online shop, from a warehouse in Iceland, and delivering it to a customer by courier. He said ÁTVR now planned to sell wine online from a warehouse and deliver it by courier, arguing that the apparent difference was who made the sale.

ÁTVR’s chief executive has said the service would not begin unless the retailer could ensure responsible delivery. Sigurðsson responded that the court case concerned whether a private company had breached the state’s retail monopoly, not ÁTVR’s powers. He also noted that the ruling has been appealed to the Court of Appeal and is not final.

Sigurðsson also questioned the retailer’s stance on age verification. He said ÁTVR and the Directorate of Health had rejected electronic identification, arguing that secure online sales using it could threaten public health. The law, he said, allows customers to prove their age with photo identification or by another satisfactory means. He added that the law requires ÁTVR to assess a customer’s age and condition, while home delivery would leave that assessment to a third-party courier, as in the Smáríkið case.

ÁTVR’s chief executive has said home delivery would improve service for people outside the capital region and increase access. Sigurðsson said the law’s stated aim is to restrict and control access to alcohol, and argued that expanding access through delivery conflicted with that purpose.

He said ÁTVR’s delivery service would be funded by cigarette sales. According to documents submitted to Parliament, he said, tobacco sales generate a profit while alcohol sales have made a loss.