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
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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