AWRS101903 - Buying from an unapproved wholesaler - Non-Deliberate

Buying from an unapproved wholesaler which is non-deliberate is neither

• deliberate and concealed
• deliberate but not concealed

The non-deliberate penalty applies unless the behaviour is deliberate or the person has a reasonable excuse. See CH71500 for guidance on reasonable excuse.

Example of Non-Deliberate action

Dave runs a pub. He purchases spirits from a local wholesaler on a monthly basis. As part of his due diligence he runs a 6 monthly check on the wholesaler’s AWRS URN to ensure that his supplier remains approved.

Unbeknown to Dave the wholesaler’s AWRS approval was revoked but the business carried on trading regardless supplying the same level of service to Dave, so from Dave’s perspective nothing had changed.  It was only when Dave applied his next routine due diligence check that he discovered that the business was no longer approved. He stopped trading with the wholesaler immediately and notified us what had happened.

In this example, as Dave has taken reasonable prompt action to remedy the contravention as soon as he was aware of it and importantly as soon as he would reasonably become aware of it, then it could be argued that he had a reasonable excuse not to be penalised.