Bill Text: FL S0166 | 2017 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Craft Distilleries

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-04 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 141 (Ch. 2017-46) [S0166 Detail]

Download: Florida-2017-S0166-Comm_Sub.html

---

       Florida Senate - 2017                       CS for CS for SB 166
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Commerce and Tourism; and Regulated
       Industries; and Senators Steube, Brandes, Hutson, and Young
       
       
       
       
       577-03328-17                                           2017166c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to alcoholic beverages; amending s.
    3         561.221, F.S.; providing that the ownership,
    4         management, operation, or control of up to three
    5         vendor’s licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages
    6         by a designated Florida Craft Distillery is not
    7         prohibited under specified laws; requiring the
    8         Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco to issue
    9         permits to designated Florida Craft Distilleries to
   10         conduct certain tastings and sales; requiring such
   11         distilleries to pay entry fees and have a
   12         representative present during certain events;
   13         authorizing the transfer of wine and distilled spirits
   14         to vendors by specified wineries and distilleries
   15         under certain circumstances; requiring the division to
   16         approve certain storage areas; requiring wineries and
   17         distilleries to report all such transfers to the
   18         division and to include them in monthly excise tax
   19         payments; amending s. 565.03, F.S.; redefining the
   20         term “craft distillery”; specifying authorized
   21         products for sale by craft distilleries; providing
   22         limitations on retail sales by craft distilleries to
   23         consumers; permitting craft distilleries to retain and
   24         renew a vendor’s license under specified
   25         circumstances; authorizing craft distilleries to
   26         transfer distilled spirits under certain conditions;
   27         requiring the division to approve certain storage
   28         areas; requiring distilleries to report all such
   29         transfers to the division and to include them in
   30         monthly excise tax payments; deleting certain
   31         prohibitions on the transfer of a distillery license
   32         and affiliated ownership; authorizing craft
   33         distilleries to apply for a sales room location under
   34         certain circumstances; amending s. 565.17, F.S.;
   35         authorizing craft distilleries to conduct tastings
   36         under certain circumstances; providing an effective
   37         date.
   38          
   39  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   40  
   41         Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 561.221, Florida
   42  Statutes, is amended to read:
   43         561.221 Licensing of manufacturers and distributors as
   44  vendors and of vendors as manufacturers; conditions and
   45  limitations.—
   46         (1)(a) Nothing contained in s. 561.22, s. 561.42, or any
   47  other provision of the Beverage Law prohibits the ownership,
   48  management, operation, or control of not more than three
   49  vendor’s licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages by a
   50  manufacturer of wine or a designated Florida Craft Distillery
   51  who is licensed and engaged in the manufacture of wine or
   52  distilled spirits in this state, even if such manufacturer is
   53  also licensed as a distributor; provided that no such vendor’s
   54  license is not shall be owned, managed, operated, or controlled
   55  by any licensed manufacturer of wine or any craft distillery
   56  unless the licensed premises of the vendor are situated on
   57  property contiguous to the manufacturing premises of the
   58  licensed manufacturer of wine or distilled spirits or in its
   59  sales room pursuant to s. 565.03.
   60         (b) The Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco shall
   61  issue permits to a certified Florida Farm Winery or a designated
   62  Florida Craft Distillery to conduct tasting and sales of wine or
   63  distilled spirits produced by certified Florida Farm Wineries or
   64  designated Florida Craft Distilleries at Florida fairs, trade
   65  shows, expositions, and festivals. The certified Florida Farm
   66  Winery or designated Florida Craft Distillery shall pay all
   67  entry fees and shall have a winery or distillery representative
   68  present during the event. The permit is limited to the length of
   69  the event.
   70         (c) A certified Florida Farm Winery or designated Florida
   71  Craft Distillery may transfer wine or distilled spirits produced
   72  at such winery or distillery, respectively, out of its federal
   73  bonded space or nonbonded space at its licensed premises or
   74  storage areas to its vendor’s licensed premises or approved
   75  sales room. The division shall approve the storage areas,
   76  provided that each is included in the winery’s or distillery’s
   77  current state tax bond. All such transfers of wine or distilled
   78  spirits shall be reported to the division pursuant to s. 561.55
   79  and included in the winery’s or distillery’s excise tax payment
   80  to the state each month.
   81         Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and paragraph
   82  (c) of subsection (2) of section 565.03, Florida Statutes, are
   83  amended to read:
   84         565.03 License fees; manufacturers, distributors, brokers,
   85  sales agents, and importers of alcoholic beverages; vendor
   86  licenses and fees; craft distilleries.—
   87         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   88         (b) “Craft distillery” means a licensed distillery that
   89  produces 250,000 75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of
   90  distilled spirits on its premises and is designated as a craft
   91  distillery by has notified the division upon notification in
   92  writing of its decision to qualify as a craft distillery.
   93         (2)(c) A craft distillery licensed under this section may
   94  sell to consumers, at its souvenir gift shop, branded products
   95  distilled and bottled on its premises in this state in factory
   96  sealed containers approved for sale that are filled at the
   97  distillery for off-premises consumption. Such sales are
   98  authorized only on private property owned or leased by the
   99  distillery which is contiguous to the licensed distillery
  100  premises and at one other approved sales room located in the
  101  same county as the distillery’s production building which shall
  102  be an extension of the craft distillery’s licensed premises in
  103  this state and included on the sketch or diagram defining the
  104  licensed premises submitted with the distillery’s license
  105  application. All sketch or diagram revisions by the distillery
  106  shall require local zoning approval and the division’s approval
  107  verifying that the souvenir gift shop location and all areas
  108  used and operated by the licensed distillery are is owned or
  109  leased by the distillery and on property contiguous to the
  110  distillery’s production building in this state or within the
  111  extended licensed premises.
  112         1. A craft distillery licensed under this section may not
  113  sell any factory-sealed individual containers of spirits except
  114  in face-to-face sales transactions at the craft distillery’s
  115  licensed premises with consumers who are making a purchase of no
  116  more than:
  117         a. Two individual containers of each branded product;
  118         b. Three individual containers of a single branded product
  119  and up to one individual container of a second branded product;
  120  or
  121         c. Four individual containers of a single branded product.
  122         2. Each container sold in face-to-face transactions with
  123  consumers must comply with the container limits in s. 565.10,
  124  per calendar year for the consumer’s personal use and not for
  125  resale and who are present at the distillery’s licensed premises
  126  in this state.
  127         3. A craft distillery licensed under this section must
  128  report to the division within 5 days after it reaches the
  129  production limitations provided in paragraph (1)(b). Any retail
  130  sales to consumers at the craft distillery’s licensed premises
  131  are prohibited beginning the day after it reaches the production
  132  limitation unless it has been issued a vendor’s license at each
  133  craft distillery and additional sales room authorized in s.
  134  561.221. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this section
  135  or s. 561.221, a craft distillery which holds a vendor’s license
  136  may retain and renew such license, if such craft distillery
  137  exceeds the production limitation in paragraph (1)(b).
  138         4. A craft distillery licensed under this section may not
  139  ship or arrange to ship any of its distilled spirits to
  140  consumers and may sell and deliver only to consumers within the
  141  state in a face-to-face transaction at the distillery property.
  142  However, a craft distiller licensed under this section may ship,
  143  arrange to ship, or deliver such spirits to manufacturers of
  144  distilled spirits, wholesale distributors of distilled spirits,
  145  state or federal bonded warehouses, and exporters.
  146         5. A craft distillery may transfer distilled spirits it
  147  manufactures from its federal bonded space or nonbonded space at
  148  its licensed premises or storage areas to its souvenir gift shop
  149  and additional sales room. The division shall approve all
  150  storage areas requested by the craft distillery which are
  151  included in its current state bond. All such transfers of
  152  distilled spirits shall be reported to the division pursuant to
  153  s. 561.55 and included in the excise tax payment due the state
  154  Except as provided in subparagraph 6., it is unlawful to
  155  transfer a distillery license for a distillery that produces
  156  75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of distilled spirits
  157  on its premises or any ownership interest in such license to an
  158  individual or entity that has a direct or indirect ownership
  159  interest in any distillery licensed in this state; another
  160  state, territory, or country; or by the United States government
  161  to manufacture, blend, or rectify distilled spirits for beverage
  162  purposes.
  163         6. A craft distillery may include a sales room location
  164  authorized by this subsection on its original license
  165  application or by an amendment to its license application on
  166  forms prescribed by the division shall not have its ownership
  167  affiliated with another distillery, unless such distillery
  168  produces 75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of distilled
  169  spirits on each of its premises in this state or in another
  170  state, territory, or country.
  171         Section 3. Section 565.17, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  172  read:
  173         565.17 Beverage tastings by distributors and vendors.—A
  174  licensed distributor of spirituous beverages, or any vendor or
  175  craft distillery, is authorized to conduct spirituous beverage
  176  tastings upon any licensed premises authorized to sell
  177  spirituous beverages by package or for consumption on premises
  178  without being in violation of s. 561.42, provided that the
  179  conduct of the spirituous beverage tasting shall be limited to
  180  and directed toward the general public of the age of legal
  181  consumption.
  182         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.