Volcanica Coffee is a specialty importer and retailer of exotic single-origin gourmet coffee beans. We are committed to offering only the finest quality coffee from volcanic regions around the world that is wonderfully exotic and remarkable in taste. Since our humble beginnings starting in our garage, we have expanded into a large warehouse and roasting facility.
Unfortunately, there is a new bill being considered by Georgia state lawmakers that could upend my small business success and the future of our state’s small business community. That’s why I’m asking that they oppose SB 472. If passed, SB 472 would not address the underlying need to give law enforcement the necessary resources to put retail thieves in jail. Instead, it will put Georgia third-party sellers at a competitive disadvantage.
SB 472 claims to fill a loophole in the existing statute. However, from a plain reading of the law, there does not seem to be a loophole that needs filling. Instead, this is an attempt to relitigate an issue that many parties engaged in good faith in to settle. Indeed, the issue is so settled that there is now a federal statute that supersedes this one. Any change to the Georgia-specific law then is an attempt to construct a state-by-state patchwork. Such a move should be seen for what it is: anticompetitive.
The federal INFORM Act that was passed last Congress was implemented to avoid this very scenario. Having fifty different state laws and regularly amending them at the behest of particular competitors would cause chaos and amounts to the state government propping up certain businesses at the expense of others. This is a violation of free market principles and is an altogether misguided policy. If there exists a genuine issue with the statute–the federal statute–as written, Congress must pass an amendment that fixes it and applies equally and fairly to all parties.
As it stands, the federal statute supersedes the Georgia one. So therefore SB 472 would be ill-advised.
Volcanica Coffee has held this original position from the beginning of the debate around the federal and state INFORM Acts: that this is a law enforcement issue. If the goal is genuinely to minimize or eliminate organized retail crime the focus must be on giving law enforcement officers what they need to combat sophisticated criminal enterprises. Shifting the blame and the policy discussion to small sellers such as Volcanica Coffee using online platforms misses the mark entirely.
There is nothing stopping the state from pursuing more aggressive actions against the perpetrators of organized retail crime directly. One must imagine such an action would be wildly popular and garner the support from every retailer, whether online or offline.
Unfortunately, we seem stuck in a debate over which specific companies should be forced to shoulder the burden of enforcement for an entire global market, while their competitors reap the benefits.
I think I speak on behalf of Georgia’s Main Street community when I respectfully ask our state lawmakers to oppose SB 472 and keep our small business interests top of mind this legislative session.
Maurice Contreras is founder and CEO of Volcanica Coffee Company in Suwanee
