
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 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.

                          Transfer of Functions

    ``Secretary of the Treasury'' and ``Secretary'' were substituted in 
subsecs. (a) to (c) and (e) to (i) for ``Administrator'', meaning the 
Administrator of the Federal Alcohol Administration, pursuant to Reorg. 
Plan No. III of 1940, see note set out under section 201 of this title.


              Applicability of Administrative Procedure Act

    Section 35 of Pub. L. 85-791 provided that: ``This Act shall not be 
construed to repeal or modify any provision of the Administrative 
Procedure Act [subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of Title 5, 
Government Organization and Employees].''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in title 26 section 5171.
