BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 647 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 647 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 8, 2013 Policy Committee: Governmental Organization Vote: 16 - 0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill clarifies the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's (ABC) current labeling requirements for refilled beer containers. Specifically, this bill states that a beer manufacturer that refills any container supplied by a consumer is required to affix a label on the container prior to its resale to the consumer. In addition, this bill clarifies that a beer manufacturer means any person that has facilities and equipment for the purposes of, and is engaged in the commercial manufacture of beer. FISCAL EFFECT Costs associated with this legislation should be minor and absorbable within ABC's current resources. COMMENTS Purpose . This bill addresses two areas of concern for the author: 1) the abuse of the statutory definition of beer manufacturer by licensed entities that do not possess or use facilities or equipment to actually manufacture beer; and 2) the uncertainty of labeling requirements for the re-filling of off-sale consumer sized beer containers, also referred to as growlers, by licensed beer manufacturers. As an example of the abuse of the definition of beer manufacturer, the author notes that recently an entity claiming to be a beer manufacturer failed to show proof that they owned or used actual brewing facilities or equipment for the actual production of beer. In reality, the beer manufacturer was simply AB 647 Page 2 purchasing beer from another manufacturer and relabeling it to sell as his product. Unfortunately, because the definition of manufacturer does not currently require a beer manufacturer to own equipment for commercial beer making, ABC was unable to bring any action against the individual. In order to solve that problem, AB 647 proposes to strengthen the current definition of beer manufacturer to ensure that a beer manufacturer actually has the facilities and equipment for the purposes of, and is engaged in, the commercial manufacture of beer. This bill also deals with California growler laws. According to the author, refilling off-sale consumer sized beer containers by beer manufacturers is a popular way for consumers to sample beers from different breweries in an affordable way and offers an environmentally favorable method of doing so. Currently, if you buy a growler container it can only be filled with beer from the brewery that sold that growler. Consumers would like to re-use their containers from one brewery to the next but labeling requirements and questions by licensees pose a barrier. This bill clarifies that a licensee must affix a new label to the container, prior to its resale to the consumer but that the container can be reused. Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 319-2081