GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2005

H                                                                                                                                                    3

HOUSE BILL 892*

Committee Substitute Favorable 5/25/05

 Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 6/8/05

Short Title:     Regulate Sale of Malt Beverage Kegs.	(Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:

March 24, 2005

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT regulating the sale of kegs containing malt beverages.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Article 3 of Chapter 18B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

"§ 18B‑310.  Keg sales of malt beverages.

(a) As used in this section, the term 'keg' means a container capable of holding at least seven and three‑quarters gallons of malt beverage.

(b) The sale of malt beverages in kegs is subject to all of the following:

(1) Every keg of malt beverages resold by a retail seller, while outside the retail seller's possession or control, shall be tagged with a uniquely numbered and coded tag or adhesive label that meets all of the following requirements:

a. It shall be issued by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to the malt beverage retailer.

b. It shall be used for a single sale of the marked keg.

(2) The retail seller of the keg shall require the retail purchaser of the keg to complete a form that is provided to the retail seller by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. The form shall include all of the following:

a. The retail purchaser's name.

b. The retail purchaser's address.

c. The retail purchaser's telephone number.

d. The retail purchaser's date of birth, verified by viewing a valid drivers license, a special identification card issued under G.S. 20‑37.7, a military identification card, or a passport showing his age to be at least the required age for purchase and bearing a physical description of the person named on the card reasonably describing the purchaser.

e. The keg's unique tag number or code.

f. The date the keg is due to be returned.

g. The form will summarize all of the following information:

1. The requirements of this section.

2. The penalties for violating any provision of this section.

3. The penalties for providing malt beverages to underage persons.

h. The signature of the retail purchaser.

(3) The retail purchaser shall return the coded tag or adhesive label along with the keg to the retail seller. The retail seller shall remove the coded tag or adhesive label and return the keg to the beverage wholesaler. The retail seller shall maintain a copy of the signed form required by subdivision (2) of this subsection for a period of one year from the date of purchase. The signed form shall be made available to law enforcement personnel upon request.

(c) The Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission may charge fees to the malt beverage retailer to cover the cost of producing the coded tag or adhesive label and the forms required under subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section.

(d) The following penalties shall apply to violations of the provisions of this section:

(1) Any person, other than an ABC permittee or law enforcement officer or agent, who defaces or removes the coded tag or adhesive label provided by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission on a keg or who possesses an unlabeled or untagged keg containing or having contained malt beverages shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00).

(2) Any retail purchaser who fails either to return a keg or to provide the retail seller with the reason for the failure to return the keg within 30 days of the date the keg is due to be returned shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00)."

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2005, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.