2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTEEN - Taxation and Finance (§§ 1 — 33423) › Subtitle 17 - Internal Revenue Code of 2011 (§§ 30001 — 33423) › PART VI - Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages (§§ 32401 — 32570) › Chapter 1053 - Production, Import and Introductions of Spirits and Alcoholic Beverages (§§ 32471 — 32507) › Subchapter C - Bottling and Canning and Labeling (§§ 32501 — 32507) › § 32502 - Limitation in the size of the containers

(a) Distilled spirits shall only be shipped or exported from Puerto Rico, or imported or introduced to Puerto Rico, in containers that do not hold more than one (1) gallon. Exempt from this prohibition are:
(1) Distilled spirits other than rum, with an alcohol content of forty percent (40%) or more (eighty (80) or more degrees proof), imported or introduced to be used as ingredients in the manufacture of rum, in a proportion that does not exceed two and one-half percent (21/2%); or as an ingredient in the manufacture of liquors other than rum, in a proportion that does not exceed five percent (5%).
(2) Alcohol and denatured spirits for industrial purposes and absolute alcohol and industrial alcohol, as said terms are defined in this part, solely and exclusively when they are for export to foreign countries, or shipped for use and consumption in the Virgin Islands, in the amounts and for the purposes established by the Secretary; or when they are shipped for use and consumption in the United States; or when they are introduced to Puerto Rico to be used in the preparation of medicinal products.
(3) Distilled spirits that are exported to foreign countries, as said term is defined in this part, in the amounts that are established by the Secretary.
(4) Distilled spirits that are shipped to United States customs Class Six (6) bonded warehouses, as established by this part, or bonded warehouses of industrial plants, or to be deposited in bonded warehouses in the United States, pursuant to federal regulations applicable to said warehouses.
(5) Distilled spirits other than rum, mixed or processed in Puerto Rico in a form considered to be Puerto Rican products for purposes of federal laws and regulations that are subsequently shipped to the United States.
(6) Rum produced in Puerto Rico that is exported or shipped to the United States to be used by the exporter, the shipper, or a third party under his/her control, to prepare mixtures of alcoholic beverages such as cocktails, cordials, or similar special alcoholic beverages, provided the controls established by the Secretary through regulations are maintained, so that the prestige and good name of the rum of Puerto Rico is protected.
(7) Distilled spirits imported or introduced into Puerto Rico by rectifiers with bonded warehouses authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury and used only and exclusively for the confection of cocktails.
(8) Distilled spirits other than rum that have an alcohol content of forty percent (40%) or more per volume (eighty (80) degrees proof or more), which are imported or introduced by industrial plants with bonded warehouses authorized by the Secretary to be used as ingredients in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages.
(9) Distilled spirits for further distillation in Puerto Rico in such a way that (after carrying out such a distillation in Puerto Rico) are deemed to be products of Puerto Rico for the purpose of federal laws and regulations, and which are subsequently shipped to the United States or exported overseas.
(b) The distillers or rectifiers that want to ship rum produced in Puerto Rico to the United States in containers larger than one (1) gallon shall obtain express authorization for it from the Secretary.
(c) When granting said authorization, the Secretary shall ensure in each case that the shipment of rum in containers larger than one (1) gallon shall not decrease the economic activity of the Island. Likewise, he/she shall ensure that this activity will not harm the prestige and good name of Puerto Rican rum abroad. To such ends, the Secretary shall impose the following conditions on the distillers or rectifiers who wish to ship rum from Puerto Rico to the United States in containers larger than one (1) gallon:
(1) They shall use in their operations, to the greatest extent possible, raw material and intermediate products made in Puerto Rico, taking into consideration the prevailing conditions regarding the price and quality therefor.
(2) No distiller that ships rum in bulk shall reduce his/her present work force except for death, disability, voluntary resignation, or duly justified dismissal for improper conduct of the employee, nor reduce wages when a worker’s position is reclassified because of bulk exports.
(3) They shall not sell or carry out any transaction to transfer Puerto Rican rum shipped in containers larger than one (1) gallon to other firms engaged in bottling and canning or labeling rum outside Puerto Rico, when the bottling and canning and labeling operations are not under the direct or immediate control of the distiller or rectifier that shipped the rum.
(4) They shall not allow plants located in the United States to bottle or can rums or distilled spirits similar to rum distilled outside Puerto Rico under the name, brand, label, or names that are equal or similar to those approved and used to label and market Puerto Rican Rum under the provisions of this part or of applicable federal regulations.
(5) The right granted by this part to any firm engaged in distilling or rectifying Puerto Rican rum shall cease as soon as the main entity to which the right is granted fails to comply with the provisions of this part regarding the labeling and shipping of rum in containers larger than one (1) gallon.
(6) The provisions of § 32505(a) of this title shall apply to the stickers or labels used in bottling the rum shipped in containers larger than one (1) gallon.
History —Jan. 31, 2011, No. 1, § 5033.02, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011; Sept. 19, 2014, No. 159, § 11.