2023 Revised Code of Washington › Title 66 - Alcoholic Beverage Control › Chapter 66.28 - Miscellaneous Regulatory Provisions. › 66.28.310 - Three-tier system—Promotional items.

RCW 66.28.310
Three-tier system—Promotional items.
(1)(a) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits an industry member from providing retailers, including common carriers licensed under RCW 66.24.395, branded promotional items which are of nominal value, singly or in the aggregate. Such items include but are not limited to: Trays, lighters, blotters, postcards, pencils, coasters, menu cards, meal checks, napkins, clocks, mugs, glasses, bottles or can openers, corkscrews, matches, printed recipes, shirts, hats, visors, and other similar items. Branded promotional items:
(i) Must be used exclusively by the retailer, including common carriers licensed under RCW 66.24.395, or its employees in a manner consistent with its license;
(ii) Must bear imprinted advertising matter of the industry member only, except imprinted advertising matter of the industry member can include the logo of a professional sports team which the industry member is licensed to use;
(iii) May be provided by industry members to: (A) Common carriers licensed under RCW 66.24.395 for use by their employees or ticketed passengers; or (B) retailers, other than common carriers licensed under RCW 66.24.395, and their employees and may not be provided by or through retailers or their employees to retail customers; and
(iv) May not be targeted to or appeal principally to youth.
(b) An industry member is not obligated to provide any such branded promotional items, and a retailer, including common carriers licensed under RCW 66.24.395, may not require an industry member to provide such branded promotional items as a condition for selling any alcohol to the retailer, including common carriers licensed under RCW 66.24.395.
(c) Any industry member or retailer or any other person asserting that the provision of branded promotional items as allowed in (a) of this subsection has resulted or is more likely than not to result in undue influence or an adverse impact on public health and safety, or is otherwise inconsistent with the criteria in (a) of this subsection may file a complaint with the board. Upon receipt of a complaint the board may conduct such investigation as it deems appropriate in the circumstances. If the investigation reveals the provision of branded promotional items has resulted in or is more likely than not to result in undue influence or has resulted or is more likely than not to result in an adverse impact on public health and safety or is otherwise inconsistent with (a) of this subsection the board may issue an administrative violation notice to the industry member, to the retailer, or both. The recipient of the administrative violation notice may request a hearing under chapter 34.05 RCW.
(2) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits:
(a) An industry member from providing to a special occasion licensee and a special occasion licensee from receiving services for:
(i) Installation of draft beer dispensing equipment or advertising;
(ii) Advertising, pouring, or dispensing of beer or wine at a beer or wine tasting exhibition or judging event; or
(iii) Pouring or dispensing of spirits by a licensed domestic distiller or the accredited representative of a distiller, manufacturer, importer, or distributor of spirituous liquor licensed under RCW 66.24.310; or
(b) Special occasion licensees from paying for beer, wine, or spirits immediately following the end of the special occasion event; or
(c) Wineries, breweries, or distilleries that are participating in a special occasion event from paying reasonable booth fees to the special occasion licensee.
(3) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits industry members from performing, and retailers from accepting the service of building, rotating, and restocking displays and stockroom inventories; rotating and rearranging can and bottle displays of their own products; providing point of sale material and brand signs; pricing case goods of their own brands; and performing such similar business services consistent with board rules, or personal services as described in subsection (5) of this section.
(4) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits:
(a) Industry members from listing on their internet websites information related to retailers who sell or promote their products, including direct links to the retailers' internet websites;
(b) Retailers from listing on their internet websites information related to industry members whose products those retailers sell or promote, including direct links to the industry members' websites;
(c) Manufacturers, distributors, or their licensed representatives from using websites or social media accounts in their name to post, repost, or share promotional information or images about events featuring a product of the manufacturer's own production or a product sold by the distributor, held at an on-premises licensed liquor retailer's location or a licensed special occasion event. The promotional information may include links to purchase event tickets. Manufacturers, distributors, or their licensed representatives may not pay a third party to enhance viewership of a specific post. Industry members, or their licensed representatives, are not obligated to post, repost, or share information or images on a website or on social media. A licensed liquor retailer may not require an industry member or their licensed representative to post, repost, or share information or images on a website or on social media as a condition for selling any alcohol to the retailer or participating in a retailer's event; or
(d) Industry members and retailers from producing, jointly or together with regional, state, or local industry associations, brochures and materials promoting tourism in Washington state which contain information regarding retail licensees, industry members, and their products.
(5) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits the performance of personal services offered from time to time by a domestic winery or certificate of approval holder to retailers, including common carriers licensed under RCW 66.24.395, when the personal services are (a) conducted at a licensed premises, and (b) intended to inform, educate, or enhance customers' knowledge or experience of the manufacturer's products. The performance of personal services may include participation and pouring, bottle signing events, and other similar informational or educational activities at the premises of a retailer holding a spirits, beer, and wine restaurant license, a wine and/or beer restaurant license, a specialty wine shop license, a special occasion license, a grocery store license with a tasting endorsement, a common carrier license under RCW 66.24.395, or a private club license. A domestic winery or certificate of approval holder is not obligated to perform any such personal services, and a retail licensee, including common carrier licensees under RCW 66.24.395, may not require a domestic winery or certificate of approval holder to conduct any personal service as a condition for selling any alcohol to the retail licensee, or as a condition for including any product of the domestic winery or certificate of approval holder in any tasting conducted by the licensee. Except as provided in RCW 66.28.150, the cost of sampling may not be borne, directly or indirectly, by any domestic winery or certificate of approval holder or any distributor. Nothing in this section prohibits wineries, breweries, microbreweries, certificate of approval holders, and retail licensees from identifying the producers on private labels authorized under RCW 66.24.400, 66.24.425, 66.24.450, 66.24.360, and 66.24.371.
(6) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits an industry member from entering into an arrangement with any holder of a sports entertainment facility license or an affiliated business for brand advertising at the licensed facility or promoting events held at the sports entertainment facility as authorized under RCW 66.24.570.
(7) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits the performance of personal services offered from time to time by a domestic brewery, microbrewery, or beer certificate of approval holder to grocery store licensees with a tasting endorsement, or common carrier licensees under RCW 66.24.395, when the personal services are (a) conducted at a licensed premises in conjunction with a tasting event, and (b) intended to inform, educate, or enhance customers' knowledge or experience of the manufacturer's products. The performance of personal services may include participation and pouring, bottle signing events, and other similar informational or educational activities. A domestic brewery, microbrewery, or beer certificate of approval holder is not obligated to perform any such personal services, and a grocery store licensee may not require the performance of any personal service as a condition for including any product in any tasting conducted by the licensee.
(8) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits an arrangement between a domestic winery and a restaurant licensed under RCW 66.24.320 or 66.24.400 to waive a corkage fee.
(9) Nothing in this section prohibits professional sports teams who hold a retail liquor license or their agents from accepting bona fide liquor advertising from manufacturers, importers, distributors, or their agents for use in the sporting arena. Professional sports teams who hold a retail liquor license or their agents may license the manufacturer, importer, distributor, or their agents to use the name and trademarks of the professional sports team in their advertising and promotions, under the following conditions:
(a) Such advertising must be paid for by said manufacturer, importer, distributor, or their agent at the published advertising rate or at a reasonable fair market value.
(b) Such advertising may carry with it no express or implied offer on the part of the manufacturer, importer, distributor, or their agent, or promise on the part of the retail licensee whose operation is directly or indirectly part of the sporting arena, to stock or list any particular brand of liquor to the total or partial exclusion of any other brand.
(10) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits a licensed domestic brewery or microbrewery from providing branded promotional items which are of nominal value, singly or in the aggregate, to a nonprofit charitable corporation or association exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code as it existed on July 24, 2015, for use consistent with the purpose or purposes entitling it to such exemption.
(11) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits a common carrier licensed under RCW 66.24.395 from:
(a) Transporting liquor without charge or at a discounted rate when the liquor was purchased by a ticketed passenger and is not intended to be sold for resale;
(b) Displaying or distributing information about an industry member, provided the industry member did not pay the common carrier to have the information displayed or distributed;
(c) Sponsoring any public or private event including those hosted by or otherwise affiliated with an industry member;
(d) Engaging in joint promotional activities with an industry member, provided the industry member does not pay the common carrier or a third party to participate in the joint promotional activity and any branded promotional items provided by the industry member are of nominal value;
(e) Accepting payment from an industry member for advertising, provided:
(i) The advertising appears in a publication produced and distributed to passengers of the common carrier;
(ii) The amount of the payment is consistent with the advertising rates paid by other advertisers purchasing similar advertisements in the same publication; and
(iii) The payment is not used as an inducement to purchase the products of the industry member paying for the advertising nor does it result in the exclusion of products of other industry members.
(12) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits an industry member, subject to the requirements of its license, from entering into an agreement to provide tastings with or without charge to passengers of a common carrier holding a license under RCW 66.24.395.
(13) Nothing in RCW 66.28.305 prohibits a distillery, craft distillery, or spirits certificate of approval holder from providing branded promotional items of nominal value, singly or in the aggregate, to a nonprofit charitable corporation or association exempt from taxation under Title 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code of 1986, as amended, as of January 1, 2021, for use consistent with the purpose or purposes entitling it to such exemption.
[ 2020 c 238 § 10; 2020 c 200 § 1; 2019 c 149 § 1; 2015 c 94 § 1; 2014 c 92 § 5; 2013 c 107 § 1. Prior: 2011 c 119 § 101; 2011 c 66 § 3; prior: 2010 c 290 § 3; 2010 c 141 § 4; 2009 c 506 § 7.]
NOTES:
Reviser's note: This section was amended by 2020 c 200 § 1 and by 2020 c 238 § 10, each without reference to the other. Both amendments are incorporated in the publication of this section under RCW 1.12.025(2). For rule of construction, see RCW 1.12.025(1).
Effective date—2020 c 238 §§ 3, 5, 6, 7, and 10: See note following RCW 66.24.146.
Finding—Intent—2011 c 66: See note following RCW 66.28.295.