Category: WWI News

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is announcing two virtual listening sessions to receive input from the public on nutritional labeling of wine, distilled spirits, and malt beverages to disclose per-serving alcohol and nutritional information, major food allergens, and/or ingredients. These listening sessions are intended to engage the public, including consumers, public health stakeholders, and industry members of all sizes, and facilitate the public’s ability to provide input to inform rulemaking.

Virtual listening sessions will be held on the following days:

·  February 28, 2024, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST (register for February 28 session)

·  February 29, 2024, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PST (register for February 29 session)

The deadline to register to virtually attend either session is noon EST, February 27, 2024. When registering, participants may indicate whether they wish to speak at one of the sessions. Requests to speak during one of the listening sessions must be submitted by noon EST, on February 26, 2024. If all registered speakers have had an opportunity to speak, the session may conclude early.

Written comments may be submitted electronically or via postal mail and must be submitted or postmarked by 11:59 p.m. EST, March 29, 2024, using the instructions provided in Notice No. 232. To view all documents and comments related to this notice, see Docket No. TTB-2024-0002 at Regulations.gov.  

To facilitate input from the public, TTB has developed a list of questions. TTB encourages commenters to explain the rationale behind their comments and to include any available supporting data and other information, as appropriate.

Visit TTB.gov for additional details about the listening sessions.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) adopted rules January 31 amending multiple sections of rule related to alcohol delivery, outdoor alcohol service, and MAST 13 permit holders.

Effective March 2, wineries may allow 18-20 year old MAST holding employees to pour wine and beer away from the table and similar additional allowances for wineries during Covid-era operations after the Washington Wine Institute filed the CR 101 with the LCB one year ago and worked alongside WWI members to advocate for this change.

After this allowance expired in September 2022, the LCB received a petition for rulemaking that sought to amend WAC 314-17-015 and make this a permanent part of rule, allowing MAST 13 permit holders to pour beer and wine away from the customer’s table. In January 2023, the LCB accepted this petition for rulemaking. This rulemaking project began in March 2023, and was later combined with the SSB 5448 rulemaking.

WWI testified before the LCB January 24 on rulemaking we’ve engaged in over 2023 pertaining to alcohol to go/outdoor seating and MAST 13 rules initiated from the passage of SB 5448 in last year’s legislative session.

The rule also modifies allowances to outdoor alcohol service, which removes language to make clear that outdoor food service is not required for businesses that are not required to serve food indoors.

– Concise Explanatory Statement

– Memorandum

– CR 103 filed as WSR 24-04-042 on January 31, 2024

More information is available on the LCB Current Rulemaking Activity webpage. If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact rules@lcb.wa.gov. To sign up to receive email announcements for all LCB rulemaking activities visit the agency’s sign-up page. There you can register to receive updates and announcements for a wide variety of agency topics.

The House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry Committee held a public hearing on Thursday for HB 2196 the .05 BAC bill. We are communicating with all of our members and the industry to join us in vocal opposition to the bill.

We joined the Washington Hospitality Association and the Washington Brewers Guild testifying in opposition to the myriad of reasons why this policy proposal will not achieve the laudable goal of reducing DUI-related fatalities in Washington.

Instead, we believe the bill will only harm our hospitality industry, especially wineries and other liquor licensees located in rural areas of our state. We spoke to such valid points as: 

– 49 of 50 states in our country have a .08 BAC law that is based in scientific research and was set with guidance from law enforcement many years ago. Utah is the only state with a .05 BAC law.

– Utah’s own data shows that for three years after the law’s implementation, 2020-2022, the unfortunate reality for their state was seeing alcohol-related fatalities increase each year.

– There is no scientifically valid training for a server to identify a customer at a .05 level, making this practically impossible to implement as a useful tool.

– Washington State Patrol and police officers overall are currently legally allowed to arrest any person for a DUI at any level of impairment, giving them discretion before making an arrest. This law would significantly narrow that discretion.

– High BAC drivers and repeat offenders are the real problem. Focusing on getting these people off the road who clearly have complete disregard for the safety of others should be our state’s top priority. Let’s work together to strengthen existing DUI laws and reduce the number of these instances on our roadways.

We will continue to speak to Democrats and Republicans on the Committee and as many as we can in the State House asking to oppose this bill and instead work with all stakeholders on solutions that will meaningfully lower DUI-related arrests and fatalities and make Washington State roads safer for all to use each year.

A big “THANK YOU” to every WWI member willing to use our Action Alert in last week’s newsletter to sign in “Con” on HB 2196 and add your voice to the process in hopes we together can make a difference. We are incredibly grateful, and we will likely ask for your help again if this bill advances to the next step in the legislative process. We will as always keep our members up to date as is possible on the current status of this bill and all bills we are engaged on during the 2024 legislative session.

Thursday, January 25^th, at 8 a.m. the House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry Committee will be hearing a bill identical to the one currently in the Senate that lowers the allowed blood alcohol concentration threshold for someone to be arrested of a DUI from .08 to .05. Of our 50 states, only Utah has a similar law. In 2023, the Washington Wine Institute joined other hospitality industries in strongly opposing this bill. For this session, we will once again be in strong opposition and testifying in committee next Thursday to all of the reasons why this will harm Washington wineries while not solving the problem of DUIs and traffic fatalities. We welcome our WWI members to join us in our effort to push back against this policy proposal by signing in “Con” on HB 2196 prior to Thursday’s hearing. The process is simple, takes only a minute and helps our work on this issue tremendously. You can have your voice heard in the process by clicking here and letting the House Committee know you are opposed to HB 2196.

WWI testified before the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board January 17 on rulemaking we’ve engaged in over 2023 pertaining to alcohol to go/outdoor seating and MAST 13 rules initiated from the passage of SB 5448 in last year’s legislative session.

We are using this rulemaking opportunity to push hard for updated rules that will modernize outdoor seating/service for all on-premises liquor licensees and increased allowances for MAST 13 (18-20 year old) workers.

These include:

-Improvements and changes to the rules that will ensure all on-premises licensees are clearly authorized to utilize more modern, barrier-free outdoor alcohol service.

-Streamline outdoor service rules so instead of two, complex sets of rules (public vs privately owned areas) all licensees are given one simple-to-understand-and-implement flexible rules based on each business’ desired approach to setting up their outdoor service area.

-Allow Class 13 MAST permit holders, in areas not restricted to minors, to open and pour wine and beer from bottles or cans, away from the table in the same manner they are permitted to do so at the table.

We have met with all three WSLCB Board Members as well as WSLCB licensing and policy staff advocating for these improvements to our outdoor service and MAST 13 rules. We are making some progress, and we remain hopeful of final outcomes that truly do modernize the rules. We will keep our members apprised of this work as it continues forward.

Starting January 1, 2024, the California Beverage Container Recycling Program will expand to include wine and distilled spirits. The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, known as the California Bottle Bill, will require updated labels for all wine bottles which include recycle value messaging and some sort of state identification. The program will also require bottles refunds, mandatory recycling and reporting.

Even out-of-state wineries that sell wine in California must register for the program. If the winery sells through a wholesaler, then the process starts with the wholesaler. If the winery sells DtC, then the bottle bill states that the direct shipper permit holder is considered the beverage manufacturer and distributor.

– California-Based: California wineries and distilleries, and importers of wine or spirits into California, will need to register as a “beverage manufacturer.” They will also need to register as a “distributor” if they sell to retailers (whether on-sale or off-sale), restaurants, bars, or directly to consumers.

– Out-of-State: Out-of-state wineries and distilleries with a California Wine Direct Shippers Permit, and that sell directly to California consumers, will need to register as a “beverage manufacturer” and a “distributor.”

Click here to find out what you need to do and for the link to register with CalRecycle as soon as possible for monthly payment and reporting requirements.

Please note there are two different start dates for what the new Bottle Bill requires of your winery.

– CalRecycle Registration and Processing Fee Start Date: January 1, 2024

– CRV Statements on Bottles Start Date: July 1, 2025

The Washington Wine Institute is hosting a webinar with law firm Foster Garvey to cover Bottle Bill requirements for Washington State wineries in January. Please be on the lookout for information on registering for this webinar in your email soon.

The Washington Wine Institute is excited to announce a new member-exclusive benefit: resource information for your winery all in one place behind the wwi.wine “Members Only” log-in. Current WWI members will soon receive a separate email from WWI staff with their winery’s log in information and instructions.

New web page topics include:   LCB Licenses, Permits and Endorsements  Tax Resources  Licensing and Event FAQs  Liquor License Starters Guide  Grape Hauling Resources  Washington Wine Institute Dues Payment Schedule  And More to Come!

Your membership is appreciated. Through member support, we are able to create new resources like this for wineries across Washington. A huge thank you to our current membership and we invite you to browse the new web pages, search for any helpful resources, and ask a question. Please direct any questions or feedback to Membership & Programs Manager Marie Schurk at marie@wwi.wine or at our contact page.

Has your winery or tasting room ever been forced to temporarily shut down or in a situation where customers can’t reach your location due to a natural or man-made event? WWI members as well as legislators reached out to us this past year asking if there are any options to help those wineries impacted by such real-life situations this year, and we are taking these inquiries directly to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) asking them to partner with us towards a long-term solution for these situational events, including a nearby wildfire, long-term power outage, flooding, gas leak, etc.

The LCB has asked us for help in detailing more examples of when this type of temporary closure took place in past months and years. So, we would like to hear from you! Sharing your experience helps us provide examples to the LCB in helping determine best approaches for a possible solution to provide impacted wineries with an option to temporarily sell wine at a location not of their own production. We appreciate all of your input and your stories will help strengthen our ability to find success in these conversations with LCB.

Message Washington Wine Institute