House Bill 0811

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 811

        By Representative Bitner






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the size of individual

  3         containers of malt beverages; amending s.

  4         563.06, F.S.; removing current restrictions on

  5         containers under a specified size; providing an

  6         effective date.

  7

  8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  9

10         Section 1.  Section 563.06, Florida Statutes, is

11  amended to read:

12         563.06  Malt beverages; imprint on individual

13  container; size of containers; exemptions.--

14         (1)  On and after October 1, 1959, all taxable malt

15  beverages packaged in individual containers possessed by any

16  person in the state for the purpose of sale or resale in the

17  state, except operators of railroads, sleeping cars,

18  steamships, buses, and airplanes engaged in interstate

19  commerce and licensed under this section, shall have imprinted

20  thereon in clearly legible fashion by any permanent method the

21  word "Florida" or "FL" and no other state name or abbreviation

22  of any state name in not less than 8-point type.  The word

23  "Florida" or "FL" shall appear first or last, if imprinted in

24  conjunction with any manufacturer's code.  A facsimile of the

25  imprinting and its location as it will appear on the

26  individual container shall be submitted to the division for

27  approval.

28         (2)  Nothing herein contained shall require such

29  designation to be attached to individual containers of malt

30  beverages which are transported through this state and which

31  are not sold, delivered, or stored for sale therein, if

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 811

    522-168-00






  1  transported in accordance with such rules and regulations as

  2  adopted by the division; nor shall this requirement apply to

  3  malt beverages packaged in individual containers and held on

  4  the premises of a brewer or bottler, which malt beverages are

  5  for sale and delivery to persons outside the state.

  6         (3)  Possession by any person in the state, except as

  7  otherwise provided herein, of more than 4 1/2  gallons of malt

  8  beverages in individual containers which do not have the word

  9  "Florida" or "FL" as herein provided, shall be prima facie

10  evidence that said malt beverage is possessed for the purpose

11  of sale or resale.

12         (4)  Except as otherwise provided herein, any malt

13  beverages in individual containers held or possessed in the

14  state for the purpose of sale or resale within the state which

15  do not bear the word "Florida" or "FL" thereon shall, at the

16  direction of the division, be confiscated in accordance with

17  the provisions of the Beverage Law.

18         (5)(a)  Nothing contained in this section shall require

19  that malt beverages packaged in individual containers and

20  possessed by any person in the state for purposes of sale or

21  resale in the state have imprinted thereon the word "Florida"

22  or "FL" if the manufacturer of the malt beverages can

23  establish before the division that the manufacturer has a

24  tracking system in place, by use of code or otherwise, which

25  enables the manufacturer, with at least 85 percent reliability

26  by July 1, 1996, and 90 percent reliability by January 1,

27  2000, to identify the following:

28         1.  The place where individual containers of malt

29  beverages were produced;

30         2.  The state into which the individual containers of

31  malt beverages were shipped; and

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 811

    522-168-00






  1         3.  The individual distributors within the state which

  2  received the individual containers of malt beverages.

  3         (b)  Prior to shipping individual containers of malt

  4  beverages into the state which do not have the word "Florida"

  5  or "FL" imprinted thereon, the manufacturer must file an

  6  application with the division to claim the exemption contained

  7  herein and must obtain approval from the division to ship

  8  individual containers of malt beverages into the state which

  9  do not have the word "Florida" or "FL" imprinted thereon.

10  Information furnished by the manufacturer to establish the

11  criteria contained within paragraph (a) may be subject to an

12  annual audit and verification by the division.  The division

13  may revoke an approved exemption if the manufacturer refuses

14  to furnish the information required in paragraph (a) upon

15  request of the division, or if the manufacturer fails to

16  permit a subsequent verification audit, or if the manufacturer

17  fails to fully cooperate with the division during the

18  conducting of an audit.

19         (c)  When a distributor has information that malt

20  beverages may have been shipped into Florida on which payment

21  of Florida excise taxes has not been made, such information

22  may be provided to the division and the division shall

23  investigate to ascertain whether any violations of Florida law

24  have occurred.

25         (6)  All malt beverages packaged in individual

26  containers sold or offered for sale by vendors at retail in

27  this state shall be in individual containers containing no

28  more than only 8, 12, 16, or 32 ounces of such malt beverages;

29  provided, however, that nothing contained in this section

30  shall affect malt beverages packaged in bulk or in kegs or in

31  barrels or in any individual container containing 1 gallon or

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 811

    522-168-00






  1  more of such malt beverage regardless of individual container

  2  type.

  3         (7)  Any person, firm, or corporation, its agents,

  4  officers or employees, violating any of the provisions of this

  5  section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree,

  6  punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083; and the

  7  license, if any, shall be subject to revocation or suspension

  8  by the division.

  9         Section 2.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2000.

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12                          SENATE SUMMARY

13    Allows malt beverages to be sold in any size individual
      container of 32 ounces or less.
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