Florida Senate - 2015                       CS for CS for SB 596
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Commerce and Tourism; and Regulated
       Industries; and Senator Hays
       
       
       
       
       577-03103-15                                           2015596c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to craft distilleries; amending s.
    3         565.03, F.S.; defining the term “branded product”;
    4         revising the current limitation on the number of
    5         containers that may be sold to consumers by craft
    6         distilleries; applying such limitation to individual
    7         containers for each branded product; prohibiting a
    8         craft distillery from shipping or arranging to ship
    9         any of its distilled spirits to consumers; providing
   10         an exception; requiring the Department of
   11         Transportation to install directional signs at
   12         specified locations in accordance with Florida’s
   13         Highway Guide Sign Program upon the request of a craft
   14         distillery licensed in this state; requiring the craft
   15         distillery licensed in this state to pay specified
   16         costs; providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of
   21  section 565.03, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs
   22  (b) and (c), respectively, a new paragraph (a) is added to that
   23  subsection, subsection (6) of that section is redesignated as
   24  subsection (7), a new subsection (6) is added to that section,
   25  and paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of that section is amended,
   26  to read:
   27         565.03 License fees; manufacturers, distributors, brokers,
   28  sales agents, and importers of alcoholic beverages; vendor
   29  licenses and fees; craft distilleries.—
   30         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   31         (a) “Branded product” means any distilled spirits product
   32  manufactured on site, which requires a federal certificate and
   33  label approval by the Federal Alcohol Administration Act or
   34  regulations.
   35         (2)
   36         (c) A craft distillery licensed under this section may sell
   37  to consumers, at its souvenir gift shop, branded products
   38  spirits distilled on its premises in this state in factory
   39  sealed containers that are filled at the distillery for off
   40  premises consumption. Such sales are authorized only on private
   41  property contiguous to the licensed distillery premises in this
   42  state and included on the sketch or diagram defining the
   43  licensed premises submitted with the distillery’s license
   44  application. All sketch or diagram revisions by the distillery
   45  shall require the division’s approval verifying that the
   46  souvenir gift shop location operated by the licensed distillery
   47  is owned or leased by the distillery and on property contiguous
   48  to the distillery’s production building in this state. A craft
   49  distillery or licensed distillery may not sell any factory
   50  sealed individual containers of spirits except in face-to-face
   51  sales transactions with consumers who are making a purchase of
   52  two or fewer individual containers of each branded product, or
   53  up to four individual containers, whichever is greater, that
   54  comply with the container limits in s. 565.10, per calendar year
   55  for the consumer’s personal use and not for resale and who are
   56  present at the distillery’s licensed premises in this state.
   57         1. A craft distillery must report to the division within 5
   58  days after it reaches the production limitations provided in
   59  paragraph (1)(b) (1)(a). Any retail sales to consumers at the
   60  craft distillery’s licensed premises are prohibited beginning
   61  the day after it reaches the production limitation.
   62         2. A craft distillery may not only ship or, arrange to
   63  ship, or deliver any of its distilled spirits to consumers and
   64  may only sell and deliver to consumers within the state in a
   65  face-to-face transaction at the distillery property. However, a
   66  craft distiller licensed under this section may ship, arrange to
   67  ship, or deliver such spirits to manufacturers of distilled
   68  spirits, wholesale distributors of distilled spirits, state or
   69  federal bonded warehouses, and exporters.
   70         3. Except as provided in subparagraph 4., it is unlawful to
   71  transfer a distillery license for a distillery that produces
   72  75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of distilled spirits
   73  on its premises or any ownership interest in such license to an
   74  individual or entity that has a direct or indirect ownership
   75  interest in any distillery licensed in this state; another
   76  state, territory, or country; or by the United States government
   77  to manufacture, blend, or rectify distilled spirits for beverage
   78  purposes.
   79         4. A craft distillery shall not have its ownership
   80  affiliated with another distillery, unless such distillery
   81  produces 75,000 or fewer gallons per calendar year of distilled
   82  spirits on each of its premises in this state or in another
   83  state, territory, or country.
   84         (6) Upon the request of a craft distillery licensed in this
   85  state, the Department of Transportation shall install
   86  directional signs for the craft distillery on the rights-of-way
   87  of interstate highways and primary and secondary roads in
   88  accordance with Florida’s Highway Guide Sign Program, Rule 14
   89  51, Florida Administrative Code. A craft distillery licensed in
   90  this state which requests placement of a directional sign
   91  through the department’s permit process shall pay all associated
   92  costs.
   93         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.