A panel last week found Alberta's tax of out of province craft beer violates inter-provincial free trade agreements.

That's music to the ears of Foothills MP John Barlow, who's been fighting the move since it was first announced by the Alberta government in the spring.

"To see that decision come down I think is a positive. I think it's the first step to what is a much larger question in terms of tariffs and provincial trade barriers that provinces are putting up on one another.  This is just one of an issue that spreads from one coast to another."

The province has six months to change the legislation allowing out of province breweries to market their product in Alberta without being subject to what they call "discriminatory" taxes.