With at least half a dozen new alcohol laws set to go into effect later this year, including alcohol delivery and direct to consumer wine shipment, work is underway at the Alabama Alcohol Beverage Control Board to draft new guidelines and requirements for the regulation, distribution, and sale of alcohol.
The Alabama ABC board has a number of tasks on its agenda, including updated requirements for record keeping and creating new third- party licenses for businesses who plan to deliver alcohol. As the board proposes these new courses of action, members of the public will be able to submit feedback.
The Alabama Beverage Control Board will post its intended action on the Alabama Administrative Monthly, the state legislative service’s website which contains notices from state agencies about their plans to adopt, amend, or repeal rules in the Alabama Administrative code (The Alabama ABC falls under Title 20 of the state administrative code).
Members of the public can submit feedback about the proposed actions by submitting an email to admin@abc.alabama.gov or, mail feedback to Renee Ferraz, Alabama ABC Board, 2715 Gunter Park Drive, W, Montgomery, AL 36109.
All the feedback received will be presented to the ABC board members, who will then consider the feedback and vote to adopt the proposed regulations later this month. The final text of the adopted rules will be submitted back to the Legislative Services Agency.
In May, the ABC board posted its intended actions regarding proposed changes to chapters five and six of Title 20, which govern licenses to sell alcohol and the operation of licensed premises. Amendments to chapter five include the board’s requirements for alcohol delivery and wine shipment. While most of the proposed actions have already been outlined in the official legislative acts, the proposals do offer some more details on rules businesses and consumers can expect once the laws go into effect.
For example, the alcohol delivery law requires businesses who intend to use their employees to deliver alcohol to design a mandatory training program. The proposal in chapter five contains more details regarding the requirements for the program, including criteria for refusing delivery to a consumer.
The proposed changes are also listed on the ABC website.
The deadline for public comment on chapters five and six is July 2. The ABC plans to post intended action regarding requirements for manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers (chapter eight) and record keeping (chapter nine) in late July, and the deadline for public feedback will be in September.
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has a busy summer ahead. 2021 was a landmark year for alcohol in the Alabama legislative session, and lawmakers passed more than half a dozen measures changing state alcohol laws. Two of the biggest game changers– alcohol delivery and direct-to- consumer wine shipment, will go into effect in October.
Alabama ABC Board: Here’s how Alabama’s new wine and liquor delivery laws will work
Legislation passed this session will also allow winemakers in the state to become less dependent on distributors to sell their products to consumers. Starting this fall, Alabama winemakers will be able to sell wine directly to consumers at events without having to use a distributor. Vintners in the state will also be allowed to distribute their wine directly to retailers. In August, breweries and distilleries will be able to sell more alcohol to patrons to consume off premises.
In addition to writing new guidelines for alcohol retailers and manufacturers, the Alabama ABC Board is also trying to decide whether its state-run ABC stores will deliver alcohol to patrons when the new alcohol delivery law goes into effect.
Language in the alcohol delivery law, pertains to “licensees” of the board, or private entities that must be licensed by the ABC Board in order to legally manufacture, distribute, or sell alcohol in Alabama. Since ABC stores are businesses “governed” rather than “licensed” by the ABC board, the Alabama ABC is spending the next few months examining the factors of home delivery to make a decision “that is in the best interest of the citizens of the state,” ABC Board Government Relations Manager Dean Argo explained to AL.com in an April email.
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