Terminology – agents, distributors, brokers and others
Agents
An "agent" is someone who does something on behalf of another person, known as "the principal". Sometimes, not always, an agent has authority to enter into commitments which bind the principal rather than the agent personally. A director is agent for his company. A solicitor is agent for his client, and so on.
In the wine trade, the term "agent" is often used loosely to mean an importer or distributor who represents a wine producer in the UK. But there is only an agency in the legal sense where the agent (A) represents the producer (P) and acts in a way that results in contracts being made between P and the customer (C). If A really is an agent, then when he sells wine to C there is one sale contract, which is between P and C, not between A and C. A is remunerated by P for sales he achieves, usually in the form of commission. Unless otherwise agreed, P, not A, takes the risk that C won't pay for the wine.
Distributors
A distributor (D) is a person appointed by P ..........
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