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ABL Dispatch
ABL Update: The Latest Industry News from Washington
BY JOHN BODNOVICH, ABL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
REGISTER NOW FOR THE ABL ANNUAL MEETING The 2020 American Beverage Licensees (ABL) Annual Meeting in New Orleans is just around the corner. Now is the time to register. For more information, please visit ablusa.org. While more speakers are being added, the annual meeting sessions already include:
• State of the State of the Beverage Alcohol Industry Mark Brown, President and CEO, Sazerac Company Inc.
• A Look at the U.S. Beverage Alcohol Market Brandy Rand, COO of Americas, The IWSR
• Wine and Spirits — The Wholesale Perspective Michelle Korsmo, President and CEO, Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America
• Alcohol Legal Update Neal Insley, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, National Alcohol Beverage Control Association
• Impaired Driving — Policy and Technology Brandy Axdahl, Senior Vice President for Responsibility Initiatives, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility
• Tariffs and Taxes John Beaudette, President and Founder, MHW Ltd.
ABL URGES TOBACCO 21 COMPLIANCE DESPITE LACK OF FDA GUIDANCE On Dec. 20, 2019, President Donald Trump signed legislation that amended the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to raise the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years.
Despite expectations that the shift to 21 would go into effect sometime in 2020, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) posted a message on its website announcing that the legislation took immediate effect upon being signed by the president on Dec. 20, before the FDA could issue regulations for the law.
The abrupt implementation failed to consider how complicated the transition may be for retailers who must retrain employees, update signage, reprogram point-of-sale systems and inform customers, many of whom could legally purchase tobacco products before the law change.
Despite unanswered questions about when and how the FDA plans to enforce the Tobacco 21 requirement, ABL urges all retailers to take the appropriate steps needed to come into compliance as the FDA stated, “It is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product — including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes — to anyone under 21.” The law does contemplate a regulation to provide retailers with clear direction on age verification rules for any purchase under 30 years old and the legality of enforcement.
ABL will monitor the issue and update members when there is more news. Tavern League members can also check the Tobacco Products — Compliance, Enforcement & Training section of the FDA website for updates.
IMPAIRED DRIVING FATALITIES DOWN IN 2018; NEW LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities decreased by 3.6% (397 fewer deaths than in 2017), accounting for 29% of 2018 overall fatalities, according to crash fatality data released on Oct. 22 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced the Reduce Impaired Driving for Everyone (RIDE) Act of 2019 or Senate Bill (SB) 2604. The bill would extend the 2015 ROADS SAFE Act’s dedicated funding to anti-drunk driving technology research — specifically the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS).
There is concern that the RIDE Act could redirect funding from DADSS to another, more invasive anti-drunk driving technology to be mandated in all new cars with no requirement that it be set at 0.08% blood alcohol concentration (BAC). ABL is working with industry partners and other stakeholders to support sensible solutions for drunk and drugged driving problems, not one-size-fits-all mandates.
MADD GETTING MAD AGAIN? On Jan. 29, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) released its report card for the 50 states (and D.C.) on their laws to reduce drunk driving. For 2019, MADD awarded an average national rating of 3.16 out of 5 stars, which is a slight increase from 2.96 in 2018.
Wisconsin received 2 out of 5 stars, with the report stating, “Lawmakers should be applauded for taking action in 2019 to increase incarceration for those who kill someone in a drunk driving crash. Lawmakers need to do much more, including legalizing sobriety checkpoints, requiring interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers and making any drunk driving offense a criminal misdemeanor like in 49 other states.”
Only one state — Arizona — received 5 out of 5 stars in 2019. Eight other states performed well above the national average in 2019: Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma and West Virginia, which each received a rating of 4.5. Montana received the lowest rating, with just a half-star. Michigan, South Dakota and Wyoming also received ratings of 1.5 stars or lower.
HAWAII AND NEW YORK JOIN VERMONT WITH 0.05% BAC LEGISLATION Bills were introduced in New York and Hawaii that would lower each state’s legal limit for drunk driving from 0.08% to 0.05% BAC. In Hawaii, SB 2234 passed unanimously out of the committee. The bill also has a provision that would allow for a driver to be charged if that individual “is under the influence of any drug that impairs the person’s ability to operate the vehicle in a careful or prudent manner.”
MAKE IT WITH CHICKEN.
Chicken Breakfast Sausage Pattie Brakebush Code 5711
Flame-Grilled Chicken Burgers 3.25 oz. Brakebush Code 5702 4 oz. Brakebush Code 5704
Rep. Felix Ortiz (D-NY) and Sen. John Liu (D-NY) want New York to lower the blood alcohol limit to 0.05% BAC. Assembly Bill (AB) 3208 and SB 5117 would lower “the blood alcohol concentration required for driving while intoxicated from 0.08 of one per centum to 0.05 and for aggravated driving while intoxicated from 0.18 per centum to 0.12.”
Hawaii and New York join Vermont (SB 291), which proposes lowering the BAC limit from 0.08% to 0.05%. Currently, Utah is the only state to have lowered its legal limit to 0.05% BAC.
ABL RAISES MUSIC LICENSING CONSENT DECREE AWARENESS ABL staff, along with MIC Coalition counterparts, met with members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill to raise awareness about the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division potentially moving to terminate, sunset or otherwise modify the consent decrees for American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI).
The ASCAP decree was last amended in 2001 and the BMI decree was last updated in 1994. However, both decrees were reviewed as recently as 2016 with the DOJ recommending no changes to them. During this review’s public comment period that ended in August 2019, nearly 900 comments were filed, including those from ABL and the MIC Coalition, and were overwhelmingly in support of not terminating or modifying the consent decrees.
ABL also reached out to the Trump administration, urging it to continue to promote marketplace competition and efficiency by preserving the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees in their current form. ABL and its coalition partners pointed out the enormous disruption of the marketplace with immediate broad-ranging adverse economic impacts that would occur should DOJ Antitrust Division decide to end, sunset or alter these consent decrees.
ABL ENGAGING IN TARIFF FIGHT ABL participates in an industry coalition that opposes the tariffs being placed on imported alcohol products and the harm they are causing (and will continue to cause) the alcohol industry and consumers, and is lobbying to remove the tariffs. ABL met with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss the impact of tariffs on the beverage alcohol industry.
Since Oct. 18, 2019, the U.S. has imposed a 25% tariff on single malt Scotch whisky; single malt Irish Whiskey from northern Ireland; liqueurs/cordials from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK; and certain wines from France, Germany, Spain and the UK in connection with the World Trade Organization (WTO) case concerning aircraft subsidies. A proposed 100% tariff on French wine has been delayed until later this year. TLW
American Beverage Licensees is the voice of America’s beer, wine and spirits retailers in Washington, D.C. The ABL represents the TLW and its many members, as well as thousands of other on- and off-premise retailers of beverage alcohol across the United States.
