South Carolina General Assembly
118th Session, 2009-2010

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S. 693

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Hutto
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7333ahb09.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 4572

Introduced in the Senate on April 14, 2009
Last Amended on March 3, 2010
Currently residing in the Senate

Summary: Beer tastings

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   4/14/2009  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-8
   4/14/2009  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-8
   4/15/2009  Senate  Polled out of committee Judiciary
   4/15/2009  Senate  Committee report: Favorable Judiciary
    3/3/2010  Senate  Amended SJ-22

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/14/2009
4/15/2009
3/3/2010

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

AMENDED

March 3, 2010

S. 693

Introduced by Senator Hutto

S. Printed 03/03/10--S.

Read the first time April 14, 2009.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 61-4-960 SO AS TO ALLOW HOLDERS OF RETAIL PERMITS AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF BEER FOR OFF-PREMISES CONSUMPTION TO HOLD A LIMITED NUMBER OF BEER TASTINGS AT THE RETAIL LOCATION EACH YEAR UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.    Article 9, Chapter 4, Title 61 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 61-4-960.    (A)    Notwithstanding another provision of law or regulation, the holder of a retail permit authorizing the sale of beer for off-premises consumption whose primary product is beer or wine may conduct, in accordance with department rulings or regulations, not more than twenty-four beer tastings at any one retail location in a calendar quarter, provided that:

(1)    at least ten days before the tasting, a notice detailing the specific date and hours of the tasting must be sent by first class mail or by electronic mail to the State Law Enforcement Division;

(2)    the tastings must be conducted by the retailer or an agent or independent contractor of the retailer and may not be conducted by a wholesaler or manufacturer or an employee, agent, or independent contractor of a wholesaler or manufacturer. Nothing in this subsection prohibits a manufacturer or employee, agent, or independent contractor of a manufacturer from attending a tasting to provide information and offer educational material on the products to be sampled. For purposes of this subsection, a wholesaler is not considered an employee, agent, or independent contractor of a manufacturer;

(3)    the products must be supplied by the retailer and may not be donated or otherwise supplied at no or reduced cost by the manufacturer or wholesaler;

(4)    a sample may not be offered from more than eight products at any one tasting;

(5)    no more than one container of each of the products to be sampled may be open at any time. Open containers must be visible at all times and must be removed at the conclusion of a tasting;

(6)    the tasting must be held in a designated tasting area of the retail store;

(7)    samples shall be no more than two ounces for each product sampled as defined in Section 61-4-10(1);

(8) samples shall be no more than one ounce for each product sampled as defined in Section 61-4-10(2), provided that no more than two of the total eight samples may contain more than ten percent of alcohol by weight;

(9)    a person shall not be served more than one sample of each product;

(10)    a sample shall not be offered to, or allowed to be consumed by, an intoxicated person or a person under the age of twenty-one years. A person tasting a sample may not be allowed to loiter on the store premises;

(11)    a sampling may not be offered for more than four hours;

(12)    the tasting may not be held in conjunction with a wine tasting pursuant to Section 61-4-737;

(13)    the tasting may not be held in conjunction with a tasting in a retail alcoholic liquor store pursuant to Section 61-6-1035 that is adjacent to and licensed in the same name of the retail permit authorizing the sale of beer; and

(14) no retailer may offer, pursuant to this section, more than one sampling per day.

(B)    A person who violates the provisions of this section must be assessed a fine of one hundred dollars for each violation. The revenue from these fines must be directed to the Department of Revenue for supplementing funds required for the department's activities concerning licensure and regulation of alcohol."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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