A Declaratory Ruling request submitted to the New York State Liquor Authority by Malkin Law in June of 2019 has been approved in writing by the Authority. The request detailed the specific unlicensed third party marketing practices of an  independent television network through which alcoholic beverage suppliers could promote their products at on-premise accounts.   In particular, the marketing company sought guidance as to whether its proposal to loan their devices to on-premise retailers violates the “Gifts and Services Law” or the regulations promulgated by the Authority with respect to that law.   The Authority found that the media devices were not intended to influence retailers to buy the products of a particular manufacturer or wholesaler due to the exception for interior signs advertising alcoholic beverages, provided that the signs have no secondary value and are of value to the retailer only as advertising, and so long as no manufacturer or wholesaler pays the retailer directly or indirectly in return for displaying the inside sign at the retailer’s licensed premises. Here, the Authority found that there was no violation of the Gifts and Services Law since TrueSync did not propose to pay retailers anything in exchange for the opportunity to place their devices in retail accounts utilizing retailer’s pre-existing television screens and merely proposed to loan the devices to retailers while allowing them to design their own advertisements for use in their own licensed premises.   The full Declaratory Ruling can be read here: https://sla.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2020/06/2019-01977-truesync-media-third-party-media-display-devices_0.pdf    

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS)  launched a public education campaign to remind adults to keep hand sanitizer out of reach of children. “Amid a massive shortage of hand sanitizer in the United States, more than 700 distillers across the country are coming to the aid of their communities to produce this much-needed item during the COVID-19 crisis,” said DISCUS President and CEO Chris Swonger. “Distillers are jumping in to help stop the spread of COVID-19, but we also want to raise awareness among adults that hand sanitizer should be kept out of reach of children.” The campaign features public education images created by DISCUS that will be shared on their website and highlighted across its social media platforms. In addition, DISCUS is providing the images to distillers who are producing hand sanitizer and encouraging them to share on their social media channels. “The message is simple: Keep your kids safe by keeping hand sanitizer out of reach,” said Swonger. “Through this campaign, we want to help share a proactive prevention message as we fire up our stills to keep our communities safe.” Swonger said the public education campaign was developed to support the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has expressed concern about children inadvertently consuming hand sanitizer as the demand for this product increases due to COVID-19.  As of today, April 15th, 2020, the FDA has updated their guidance on the production of hand sanitizer, stressing the importance of denaturing alcohol used in hand sanitizer:   “Denaturing…

The TTB has issued Industry Circular 2020-2 which postpones the payment of taxes due to the impact that COVID-19 is having on alcohol beverage industry members nationwide. TTB’s Acting Administrator has determined that (1) any person with a due date for submitting a Federal excise tax payment, return, operational report, or claim on wine, beer, distilled spirits, tobacco products, cigarette papers and tubes, firearms, and ammunition to TTB and (2) any person with a due date for submitting export documentation to TTB, in the period March 1, 2020, through July 1, 2020, is affected by COVID-19 for purposes of the relief described in this Industry Circular. To assist these businesses during this period, the TTB is postponing several filing and payment due dates for 90-days where the original due date falls on or after March 1, 2020, through July 1, 2020. Specifically, the TTB is: Postponing tax payment due dates for wine, beer, distilled spirits, tobacco products, cigarette papers and tubes, firearms, and ammunition excise taxes. Postponing filing due dates for excise tax returns. Postponing filing due dates for submission of operational reports. Postponing filing due dates for claims for credit or refund by producers. Postponing filing due dates for claims by manufacturers of nonbeverage products. Postponing due dates for submission of export documentation. Considering emergency variations from regulatory requirements for affected businesses on a case-by-case basis. Reviewing requests for relief from penalties based on reasonable cause. The TTB will re-evaluate the terms of this immediate relief if circumstances warrant. See…