Florida Senate - 2017 SB 166
By Senator Steube
23-00220-17 2017166__
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 certified Florida Craft Distillery is not
7 prohibited under specified laws; requiring the
8 Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco to issue
9 permits to certified 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”; providing license fees for
21 craft distilleries; specifying authorized products for
22 sale by craft distilleries; providing limitations on
23 retail sales by craft distilleries to consumers;
24 authorizing craft distilleries to transfer distilled
25 spirits under certain conditions; requiring the
26 division to approve certain storage areas; requiring
27 distilleries to report all such transfers to the
28 division and to include them in monthly excise tax
29 payments; deleting certain prohibitions on the
30 transfer of a distillery license and affiliated
31 ownership; authorizing craft distilleries to apply for
32 a sales room location under certain circumstances;
33 amending s. 565.17, F.S.; authorizing craft
34 distilleries to conduct tastings under certain
35 circumstances; providing an effective date.
36
37 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 561.221, Florida
40 Statutes, is amended to read:
41 561.221 Licensing of manufacturers and distributors as
42 vendors and of vendors as manufacturers; conditions and
43 limitations.—
44 (1)(a) Nothing contained in s. 561.22, s. 561.42, or any
45 other provision of the Beverage Law prohibits the ownership,
46 management, operation, or control of not more than three
47 vendor’s licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages by a
48 manufacturer of wine or a certified Florida Craft Distillery who
49 is licensed and engaged in the manufacture of wine or distilled
50 spirits in this state, even if such manufacturer is also
51 licensed as a distributor; provided that no such vendor’s
52 license is not shall be owned, managed, operated, or controlled
53 by any licensed manufacturer of wine or any craft distillery
54 unless the licensed premises of the vendor are situated on
55 property contiguous to the manufacturing premises of the
56 licensed manufacturer of wine or distilled spirits or in its
57 sales room pursuant to s. 565.03.
58 (b) The Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco shall
59 issue permits to a certified Florida Farm Winery or a certified
60 Florida Craft Distillery to conduct tasting and sales of wine or
61 distilled spirits produced by certified Florida Farm Wineries or
62 certified Florida Craft Distilleries at Florida fairs, trade
63 shows, expositions, and festivals. The certified Florida Farm
64 Winery or certified Florida Craft Distillery shall pay all entry
65 fees and shall have a winery or distillery representative
66 present during the event. The permit is limited to the length of
67 the event.
68 (c) A certified Florida Farm Winery or certified Florida
69 Craft Distillery may transfer wine or distilled spirits produced
70 at such winery or distillery, respectively, out of its federal
71 bonded space or nonbonded space at its licensed premises or
72 storage areas to its vendor’s licensed premises or approved
73 sales room. The division shall approve the storage areas,
74 provided that each is included in the winery’s or distillery’s
75 current state tax bond. All such transfers of wine or distilled
76 spirits shall be reported to the division pursuant to s. 561.55
77 and included in the winery’s or distillery’s excise tax payment
78 to the state each month.
79 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and paragraphs
80 (a) and (c) of subsection (2) of section 565.03, Florida
81 Statutes, are amended to read:
82 565.03 License fees; manufacturers, distributors, brokers,
83 sales agents, and importers of alcoholic beverages; vendor
84 licenses and fees; craft distilleries.—
85 (1) As used in this section, the term:
86 (b) “Craft distillery” means a licensed distillery that
87 produces 250,000 75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of
88 distilled spirits on its premises and is certified by has
89 notified the division upon notification in writing of its
90 decision to qualify as a craft distillery.
91 (2)(a) A distillery authorized to do business under the
92 Beverage Law shall pay an annual state license tax for each
93 plant or branch operating in the state, as follows:
94 1. If engaged in the business of manufacturing distilled
95 spirits, a state license tax of $4,000. For a craft distillery
96 manufacturing distilled spirits, a state license tax shall be
97 $1,000, provided it is distilling and bottling all of its
98 distilled products in containers approved for sale.
99 2. If engaged in the business of rectifying and blending
100 spirituous liquors and nothing else, a state license tax of
101 $4,000.
102 (c) A craft distillery licensed under this section may sell
103 to consumers, at its souvenir gift shop, branded products
104 distilled and bottled on its premises in this state in factory
105 sealed containers approved for sale that are filled at the
106 distillery for off-premises consumption. Such sales are
107 authorized only on private property owned or leased by the
108 distillery which is contiguous to the licensed distillery
109 premises and at one other approved sales room located in the
110 same county as the distillery’s production building which shall
111 be an extension of the craft distillery’s licensed premises in
112 this state and included on the sketch or diagram defining the
113 licensed premises submitted with the distillery’s license
114 application. All sketch or diagram revisions by the distillery
115 shall require local zoning approval and the division’s approval
116 verifying that the souvenir gift shop location and all areas
117 used and operated by the licensed distillery are is owned or
118 leased by the distillery and on property contiguous to the
119 distillery’s production building in this state or within the
120 extended licensed premises.
121 1. A craft distillery licensed under this section may not
122 sell any factory-sealed individual containers of spirits except
123 in face-to-face sales transactions at the craft distillery’s
124 licensed premises with consumers who are making a purchase of no
125 more than:
126 a. Two individual containers of each branded product;
127 b. Three individual containers of a single branded product
128 and up to one individual container of a second branded product;
129 or
130 c. Four individual containers of a single branded product.
131 2. Each container sold in face-to-face transactions with
132 consumers must comply with the container limits in s. 565.10,
133 per calendar year for the consumer’s personal use and not for
134 resale and who are present at the distillery’s licensed premises
135 in this state.
136 3. A craft distillery licensed under this section must
137 report to the division within 5 days after it reaches the
138 production limitations provided in paragraph (1)(b). Any retail
139 sales to consumers at the craft distillery’s licensed premises
140 are prohibited beginning the day after it reaches the production
141 limitation unless it has been issued a vendor’s license at each
142 craft distillery and additional sales room authorized in s.
143 561.221.
144 4. A craft distillery licensed under this section may not
145 ship or arrange to ship any of its distilled spirits to
146 consumers and may sell and deliver only to consumers within the
147 state in a face-to-face transaction at the distillery property.
148 However, a craft distiller licensed under this section may ship,
149 arrange to ship, or deliver such spirits to manufacturers of
150 distilled spirits, wholesale distributors of distilled spirits,
151 state or federal bonded warehouses, and exporters.
152 5. A craft distillery may transfer distilled spirits it
153 manufactures from its federal bonded space or nonbonded space at
154 its licensed premises or storage areas to its souvenir gift shop
155 and additional sales room. The division shall approve all
156 storage areas requested by the craft distillery which are
157 included in its current state bond. All such transfers of
158 distilled spirits shall be reported to the division pursuant to
159 s. 561.55 and included in the excise tax payment due the state
160 Except as provided in subparagraph 6., it is unlawful to
161 transfer a distillery license for a distillery that produces
162 75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of distilled spirits
163 on its premises or any ownership interest in such license to an
164 individual or entity that has a direct or indirect ownership
165 interest in any distillery licensed in this state; another
166 state, territory, or country; or by the United States government
167 to manufacture, blend, or rectify distilled spirits for beverage
168 purposes.
169 6. A craft distillery may include a sales room location
170 authorized by this subsection on its original license
171 application or by an amendment to its license application on
172 forms prescribed by the division shall not have its ownership
173 affiliated with another distillery, unless such distillery
174 produces 75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of distilled
175 spirits on each of its premises in this state or in another
176 state, territory, or country.
177 Section 3. Section 565.17, Florida Statutes, is amended to
178 read:
179 565.17 Beverage tastings by distributors and vendors.—A
180 licensed distributor of spirituous beverages, or any vendor or
181 craft distillery, is authorized to conduct spirituous beverage
182 tastings upon any licensed premises authorized to sell
183 spirituous beverages by package or for consumption on premises
184 without being in violation of s. 561.42, provided that the
185 conduct of the spirituous beverage tasting shall be limited to
186 and directed toward the general public of the age of legal
187 consumption.
188 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.