SB 822 — Beverage Law

FloridaDOCUMENT SenateUNAVAILABLE - 2018 CS for CS for SB 822 By the Committees on Commerce and Tourism;

and Regulated Industries;

and Senator Hutson 577-02900-18 2018822c2 A bill to be entitled An act relating to the Beverage Law;

amending s.

561.42, F.S.;

prohibiting certain entities and persons from directly or indirectly assisting any vendor in certain ways;

prohibiting a licensed vendor from accepting certain items and services;

authorizing the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco to impose administrative sanctions for a violation of certain limitations established in the Beverage Law;

prohibiting a vendor from displaying certain signs in the window or windows of his or her licensed premises;

authorizing certain entities and persons to give, lend, furnish, or sell certain advertising material to certain vendors;

defining the term “decalcomania”;

providing exemptions relating to tied house evil for certain sales and purchases of merchandise;

providing conditions for the exemptions;

defining the term “merchandise”;

prohibiting a manufacturer or importer of malt beverages from soliciting or receiving any portion of certain payments from its distributors;

defining the term “negotiated at arm’s length”;

specifying that a brand-naming rights agreement does not obligate or place responsibility upon a distributor;

providing civil penalties for violations by manufacturers or importers of malt beverages or vendors;

providing applicability;

requiring the division to consider the comparative financial value of a brand-naming rights agreement when determining the amount of a civil penalty;

providing an effective date.

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

34 Section 1. Present subsection (13) of section 561.42, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (14), subsections (1), (8), (11), and (12) and paragraph (b) of present subsection (14) of that section are amended, and a new subsection (13) and subsection (16) are added to that section, to read:

561.42 Tied house evil;

financial aid and assistance to vendor by manufacturer, distributor, importer, primary American source of supply, brand owner or registrant, or any broker, sales agent, or sales person thereof, prohibited;

procedure for enforcement;

exception.— (1) A No manufacturer, distributor, importer, primary American source of supply, or brand owner or registrant of any of the beverages herein referred to, whether licensed or operating in this state or out-of-state, nor any broker, sales agent, or sales person thereof, may not shall have any financial interest, directly or indirectly, in the establishment or business of any vendor licensed under the Beverage Law;

nor may shall such manufacturer, distributor, importer, primary American source of supply, brand owner or brand registrant, or any broker, sales agent, or sales person thereof, directly or indirectly assist any vendor by furnishing, supplying, selling, renting, lending, buying for, or giving to any vendor any vehicles, equipment, furniture, fixtures, signs, supplies, credit, fees, slotting fees of any kind, advertising or cooperative advertising, services, any gifts or loans of money or property of any description, or by the giving of any rebates of any kind whatsoever.

A No licensed vendor may not shall accept, directly or indirectly, any vehicles, equipment, furniture, fixtures, signs, supplies, credit, fees, slotting fees of any kind, advertising or cooperative advertising, services, gifts any gift or loans loan of money or property of any description, or any rebates of any kind whatsoever from any such manufacturer, distributor, importer, primary American source of supply, brand owner or brand registrant, or any broker, sales agent, or sales person thereof;

provided, however, that this does not apply to any bottles, barrels, or other containers necessary for the legitimate transportation of such beverages or to advertising materials and does not apply to the extension of credit, for liquors sold, made strictly in compliance with the provisions of this section.

A brand owner is a person who is not a manufacturer, distributor, importer, primary American source of supply, brand registrant, or broker, sales agent, or sales person thereof, but who directly or indirectly owns or controls any brand, brand name, or label of alcoholic beverage.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit the ownership by vendors of any brand, brand name, or label of alcoholic beverage.

(8) The division may adopt rules and require reports to enforce, and may impose administrative sanctions for any violation of, the limitations established under the Beverage Law on vehicles, equipment, furniture, fixtures, signs, supplies, credit, fees, advertising or cooperative advertising, services, gifts or loans of money or property in this section on credits, coupons, and other forms of assistance.

(11) A vendor may display in the interior of his or her licensed premises, including the window or windows thereof, neon, electric, or other signs, including window painting and decalcomanias applied to the surface of the interior or exterior of such windows;

signs that require a power source;, and posters, placards, and other advertising material advertising the brand or brands of alcoholic beverages sold by him or her, whether visible or not from the outside of the licensed premises, but a no vendor may not shall display in the window or windows of his or her licensed premises more than one neon, electric, or similar sign that requires a power source, advertising the product of any one brand of alcoholic beverage manufacturer.

(12) Any manufacturer, distributor, importer, primary American source of supply, or brand owner or registrant, or any broker, sales agent, or sales person thereof, may give, lend, furnish, or sell to a vendor who sells the products of such manufacturer, distributor, importer, primary American source of supply, or brand owner or registrant any of the following:

neon, or electric, or similar signs requiring a power source;

signs, window painting and decalcomanias applied to the surface of the interior or exterior of windows;

or, posters, placards, and other advertising material herein authorized to be used or displayed by the vendor in the interior of his or her licensed premises.

As used in subsection (11) and this subsection, the term “decalcomania” means a picture, design, print, engraving, or label made to be transferred onto a glass surface.