North Carolina § 18B-1114 - 7. Authorization of spirituous liquor special event permit.

§ 18B-1114. 7. Authorization of spirituous liquor special event permit.

Authorization. - The holder of a supplier representative permit, brokerage representative permit, or distillery permit issued under G.S. 18B-1105 may obtain a spirituous liquor special event permit allowing the permittee to give free tastings of its spirituous liquors at ABC stores where the local board has approved the tasting, trade shows, conventions, shopping malls, street festivals, holiday festivals, agricultural festivals, balloon races, local fund-raisers, and other similar events approved by the Commission. General Limitations. - Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, any consumer tasting is subject to the following limitations: The permit holder or the permit holder's authorized agent shall conduct the consumer tasting and the permit holder shall be solely responsible for any violations of this Chapter occurring in connection with the consumer tasting. The spirituous liquor shall be poured only by either (i) the permit holder conducting the consumer tasting or (ii) an employee or authorized agent of the permit holder conducting the consumer tasting who is at least 21 years of age. Each consumer shall be limited to one tasting sample containing 0.25 ounces of any product made available for sampling at the consumer tasting, and the total amount of the tasting samples offered to and consumed by each consumer shall not exceed 1.0 ounce of spirituous liquor in any calendar day. The permit holder shall not offer tasting samples to, or allow consumption of tasting samples by, any consumer who is visibly intoxicated. The permit holder shall not offer tasting samples to, or allow consumption of tasting samples by, any consumer under the legal age for consuming spirituous liquor. The person pouring the spirituous liquor shall be responsible for verifying the age of the consumer being served by checking the identification of the consumer. The permit holder shall not charge a consumer for any tasting sample. Repealed by Session Laws 2019-182, s. 6(a), effective September 1, 2019. A consumer tasting shall not be allowed unless the venue is located in a jurisdiction that has approved the sale of mixed beverages. The permit holder may provide point-of-sale advertising materials and advertising specialties and may sell branded merchandise such as glassware, cups, signs, t-shirts, hats, and other apparel to consumers at the consumer tasting. The permit holder shall maintain for a period of at least one year a record of each consumer tasting conducted. The record shall include the date of the consumer tasting, the time of the consumer tasting, an identification of the venue at which the consumer tasting was held, an identification of the spirituous liquor that was provided for tasting at the consumer tasting, and the name of any person who poured spirituous liquor at the consumer tasting. The permit holder shall allow the ABC Commission to inspect those records at any time. Additional Limitations on Tastings in ABC Stores. - Consumer tastings conducted in an ABC store shall have the following additional limitations: The spirituous liquor used in the consumer tasting event shall be purchased by the permit holder from any ABC store at the price set by the Commission. The permit holder shall remove from the premises any remaining spirituous liquor used in the consumer tasting event at the conclusion of the consumer tasting event. A local board may allow consumer tasting events to be conducted only between the hours of 1:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. on any day the ABC store, where the consumer tasting event is being held, is authorized by law to sell spirituous liquor. No consumer tasting event shall be conducted for more than three hours. The local board shall limit the consumer tasting events allowed per ABC store as follows: No more than three consumer tasting events may be held per calendar week. No more than two different permit holders may conduct a consumer tasting event at the same time. Notwithstanding subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of this section, the total amount of the tasting samples offered to and consumed by each consumer at a consumer tasting event shall not exceed one-half ounce of spirituous liquor in any calendar day. The permit holder conducting the event may provide point-of-sale advertising materials and advertising specialties to consumers at the consumer tasting event, but shall not conduct any sales of any branded merchandise or apparel to consumers at the consumer tasting event. The local board may post notice of the consumer tasting event at the local board's administrative offices and at any of the ABC stores within the local board's system and may provide notice of the consumer tasting event to any mixed beverage permittee that purchases spirituous liquor from an ABC store within the local board's system. Except as permitted by this subdivision, no local board or permit holder shall advertise or promote the consumer tasting event to the public or cause any person to do so on its behalf. The permit holder shall provide written notice of the consumer tasting event to the ABC Commission at least 48 hours before the consumer tasting event. The notice shall include all of the following: The date and time of the consumer tasting event. The ABC store at which the consumer tasting event will be conducted. The spirituous liquor that will be provided for tasting at the consumer tasting event. The Commission shall adopt rules to ensure that local ABC boards that choose to allow tastings provide holders of distillery permits issued under G.S. 18B-1105 with reasonable opportunities to conduct tastings. Any tasting conducted in an ABC store shall be the sole responsibility of the permit holder. No employee of a local board may participate in or conduct a tasting in an ABC store. Any additional conditions imposed by the local board. Any additional conditions shall be in writing, and the local board shall post notice of the additional conditions at the local board's administrative offices and provide a copy of that notice to any permit holder upon request. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a permit holder conducting a consumer tasting event pursuant to this section shall not provide any consideration to the local board, its board members, or its employees for any purpose related to the consumer tasting event. A consumer tasting event shall not be used by permit holders for unlawful inducements to a local board. History (2017-87, s. 2(c); 2018-100, s. 6(c); 2019-182, s. 6(a).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2017-87, s. 19(a), (b), provides: "(a) Except as otherwise provided, the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Commission shall adopt temporary rules to implement the provisions of this act. Temporary rules adopted in accordance with this section shall remain in effect until permanent rules that replace the temporary rules become effective. "(b) Any rule or policy adopted by the ABC Commission that does not comply with the provisions of this act shall be null, void, and without effect." Session Laws 2017-87, s. 21, made this section effective June 30, 2017. Sessions Laws 2018-100, s. 8(a), is a severability clause. Session Laws 2019-182, s. 28, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2018-100, s. 6(c), effective June 26, 2018, inserted "and may sell branded merchandise such as glassware, cups, signs, t-shirts, hats, and other apparel" in subdivision (b)(9). Session Laws 2019-182, s. 6(a), effective September 1, 2019, inserted "ABC stores where the local board has approved the tasting" in subsection (a); rewrote subsection (b), which formerly read "Limitations - Any consumer tasting is subject to the following limitations"; deleted subdivision (b)(7); and added subsection (c); and made stylistic changes.