Alcoholic beverage control: retail license transfers and beer returns.

Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application for, and the issuance and suspension of, alcoholic beverage licenses. Existing law allows licenses for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages to be issued for, or transferred to, premises that are to be constructed or are in the process of construction. This bill would require a licensee transferring a license, as described above, to follow specified notification requirements. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act allows a wholesaler or manufacturer of beer to accept the return of a beer from a retail licensee under specified conditions. In this regard, existing law allows, with department approval, a wholesaler or manufacturer, or a successor, to accept the return of a seasonal brand of beer from a retail licensee if the beer is exchanged for a quantity of beer of a brand produced or sold by the same manufacturer with a value no greater than the original sales price to the retail licensee of the returned beer. Existing law defines "seasonal brand of beer" for this purpose, in part, as a brand of beer that is brewed by a manufacturer to commemorate a specific holiday season. This bill would revise that part of the definition of "seasonal brand of beer" to instead mean a brand of beer that is brewed by a manufacturer to recognize a season or a holiday. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.