AB720 - Beverages: alcohol permits: container labeling.

Assembly Bill No. 720 CHAPTER 562 An act to amend Sections 23320 and 23390 of, and to add Section 23399.03 to, the Business and Professions Code, and to amend Section 14561 of the Public Resources Code, relating to beverages. [ Approved by Governor October 10, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 10, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 720, Rogers. Beverages: alcohol permits: container labeling. (1) Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses. Existing law authorizes licensed winegrowers and brandy manufacturers to exercise their license privileges away from their licensed premises at, or from, branch offices or warehouses or United States bonded wine cellars located away from the place of production or manufacture, subject to specified exceptions. One of the exceptions to this authorization is production or manufacture. This bill would specify that the exception of production or manufacture does not include mere storage of wine or topping of wine barrels, as specified. Existing law generally prohibits any person or licensee from having alcoholic beverages at a licensed premises other than those beverages that the license authorizes for sale, except as specified. Existing law authorizes the holder of any combination of a beer manufacturer’s license, winegrower’s license, craft distilled spirits manufacturer’s license, or a brandy manufacturer’s license for a single premises to have alcoholic beverages authorized under those licenses at the same time anywhere within the premises, as specified, if certain conditions are met, including that the manufacturer’s licenses for the single premises are either all master licenses or all branch offices, and not a combination of a master license and a branch office. This bill would, notwithstanding the above-described provision, authorize the holder of a winegrower’s license and a brandy manufacturer’s license for the same premises, where one license is a master license and the other is a branch license, to store, age, conduct brandy tastings, and engage in sales for off-premises consumption. Existing law authorizes the issuance of a caterer’s permit, upon application to the department, to a licensee under an on-sale general license, an on-sale beer and wine license, a club license, or a veterans’ club license, that authorizes the holder of the permit to sell alcoholic beverages at specified locations and events. Existing law requires the permitholder to obtain consent from the department for each event in the form of a catering authorization and imposes a fee for the authorization based on the estimated attendance at each day of the event. Existing law imposes various limitations on the permits, including prohibiting a catering authorization from being issued for use at any one premises for more than 36 events in one calendar year, except as specified. This bill would similarly authorize a licensed winegrower to apply for, and the department to issue, an estate tasting event permit that would authorize the winegrower to exercise its tasting room privileges for wine manufactured by or for the winegrower at specified locations and all of the same privileges allowed under their license for the duration of the event, subject to local land use authority, as specified. The bill would require a permitholder to obtain consent from the department for each event in the form of an estate tasting event authorization and would impose a fee of $100 for each estate tasting event. The bill would prohibit an estate tasting event authorization from being issued for more than 36 events per licensee per calendar year. The bill would impose an annual fee for an estate tasting event permit of $200 and would authorize the permit to be transferable as part of the winegrower’s license. (2) The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires a beverage manufacturer to label a beverage container sold or offered for sale by that beverage manufacturer in the state with one of several specified redemption value messages by printing or embossing the beverage container or by affixing a clear stamp, label, or other device, as specified. This bill would authorize a beverage manufacturer to etch a required redemption value message on a beverage container. The act authorizes the department to require a beverage container intended for sale in the state to be printed, embossed, stamped, labeled, or otherwise marked with a scan code, a quick response (QR) code, or a universal product code (UPC), or similar machine-readable indicia. The act prohibits a person from offering to sell, or selling, to a consumer a beverage container that has not been labeled as required by the act. Existing law provides that a violation of the act or a regulation adopted pursuant to the act is a crime. This bill would require those markings to be at least 1 / 2 inch in size. The bill would authorize the use of a chasing arrows symbol for a recyclable beverage container on the inside of a machine-readable label, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose state-mandated local program. The act exempts a beverage container included within the scope of the act beginning on January 1, 2024, from the act’s labeling requirements until July 1, 2025. This bill would extend that exemption until July 1, 2026. The act exempts a beverage container included within the scope of the act beginning on January 1, 2024, that was filled and labeled before January 1, 2024, from the act’s labeling requirements. This bill would instead exempt a beverage container included within the scope of the act beginning on January 1, 2024, that was filled and labeled before July 1, 2025. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 23320 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 23320. (a) An applicant for a new permanent license, which shall not include duplicate licenses, except as provided in paragraph (4), shall accompany the application with the application fee as specified in this division: (1) The license application fee for a new permanent license shall be nine hundred five dollars ($905), except as otherwise specified. (2) Applicants for a new permanent license of the following types shall accompany the application with a fee of fifteen thousand eight hundred thirty-five dollars ($15,835): (A) Off-sale general (Type 21). (B) On-sale general - eating place (Type 47), on-sale general public premises (Type 48), special on-sale general (Type 57), special on-sale general for-profit theater (Type 71 and Type 72), brewpub-restaurant (Type 75), caterer’s (Type 83), neighborhood restricted special on-sale (Type 87), special on-sale general license for historic cemetery (Type 88), music venue license (Type 90), and special use (Type 99). (3) Applicants for a new permanent license of the following types shall accompany the application with a fee as indicated: (A) Twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) for a wine, food, and art cultural museum (Type 78). (B) Six thousand dollars ($6,000) for an on-sale general - eating place on public property (Type 47), for an on-sale general restrictive service (Type 70), and for a music venue on public property (Type 90). (C) Two thousand dollars ($2,000) for an on-sale general dockside (Type 62). (D) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for a special on-sale general theater (Type 64). (E) One hundred dollars ($100) for an out-of-state beer manufacturer certificate (Type 26), for a distilled spirits shipper certificate (Type 28), and for a direct shipper permit (Type 82). (F) One hundred dollars ($100) for a still (Type 6). (4) Applicants for a Duplicate Type 02 license shall accompany the application with a fee of four hundred forty dollars ($440). (b) The following are the types of licenses and the annual fees to be charged therefor: (1) (A) For a Type 01 - Beer manufacturer that produces more than 60,000 barrels per year: the fee through September 30, 2019, is one thousand five hundred thirty-one dollars ($1,531) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one thousand eight hundred ninety dollars ($1,890). (B) For a Duplicate Type 01: the fee through September 30, 2019, is ninety-eight dollars ($98) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is four hundred thirty dollars ($430). (2) (A) For a Type 02 - Winegrower (to be computed only on the gallons produced); 5,000 gallons or less: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-one dollars ($71) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (B) For a Type 02 - Winegrower (to be computed only on the gallons produced); 5,000 - 20,000 gallons: the fee through September 30, 2019, is one hundred thirty-two dollars ($132) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred sixty dollars ($160). (C) For a Type 02 - Winegrower (to be computed only on the gallons produced); 20,000 - 100,000 gallons: the fee through September 30, 2019, is two hundred thirty-nine dollars ($239) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is three hundred twenty-five dollars ($325). (D) For a Type 02 - Winegrower (to be computed only on the gallons produced); 100,000 - 200,000 gallons: the fee through September 30, 2019, is three hundred fourteen dollars ($314) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is three hundred eighty dollars ($380). (E) For a Type 02 - Winegrower (to be computed only on the gallons produced); 200,000 - 1,000,000 gallons: the fee through September 30, 2019, is four hundred sixty-six dollars ($466) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred forty dollars ($540). (F) For a Type 02 - Winegrower (to be computed only on the gallons produced); for each additional 1,000,000 gallons over 1,000,000 gallons: the fee through September 30, 2019, is three hundred thirteen dollars ($313) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is three hundred eighty dollars ($380). (G) For a Duplicate Type 02: the fee through September 30, 2019, is ninety-eight dollars ($98) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred sixty dollars ($160). (3) (A) For a Type 03 - Brandy manufacturer: the fee through September 30, 2019, is three hundred eleven dollars ($311) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred forty dollars ($540). (B) For a Duplicate Type 03: the fee through September 30, 2019, is two hundred eighty-four dollars ($284) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is three hundred eighty dollars ($380). (4) For a Type 04 - Distilled spirits manufacturer: the fee through September 30, 2019, is five hundred ten dollars ($510) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred ninety-five dollars ($595). (5) For a Type 05 - Distilled spirits manufacturer’s agent: the fee through September 30, 2019, is five hundred ten dollars ($510) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred ninety-five dollars ($595). (6) For a Type 06 - Still: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-seven dollars ($77) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (7) For a Type 07 - Rectifier: the fee through September 30, 2019, is five hundred ten dollars ($510) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred ninety-five dollars ($595). (8) For a Type 08 - Wine rectifier: the fee through September 30, 2019, is five hundred ten dollars ($510) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred ninety-five dollars ($595). (9) For a Type 09 - Beer and wine importer: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-seven dollars ($77) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (10) For a Type 10 - Beer and wine importer’s general license: the fee through September 30, 2019, is three hundred forty dollars ($340) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred forty dollars ($540). (11) For a Type 11 - Brandy importer: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-seven dollars ($77) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (12) For a Type 12 - Distilled spirits importer: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-seven dollars ($77) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (13) For a Type 13 - Distilled spirits importer’s general license: the fee through September 30, 2019, is five hundred ten dollars ($510) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred ninety-five dollars ($595). (14) (A) For a Type 14 - Public warehouse: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-seven dollars ($77) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (B) For a Duplicate Type 14: the fee through September 30, 2019, is one dollar ($1) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is twenty-five dollars ($25). (15) For a Type 15 - Customs broker: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-seven dollars ($77) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (16) For a Type 16 - Wine broker: the fee through September 30, 2019, is one hundred three dollars ($103) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (17) For a Type 17 - Beer and wine wholesaler: the fee through September 30, 2019, is three hundred forty dollars ($340) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is three hundred eighty dollars ($380). (18) For a Type 18 - Distilled spirits wholesaler: the fee through September 30, 2019, is five hundred ten dollars ($510) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is five hundred ninety-five dollars ($595). (19) For a Type 19 - Industrial alcohol dealer: the fee through September 30, 2019, is one hundred three dollars ($103) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). (20) For a Type 20 - Off-sale beer and wine: the fee through September 30, 2019, is two hundred seventy-eight dollars ($278) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is three hundred eighty dollars ($380). (21) For a Type 21 - Off-sale general: the fee through September 30, 2019, is six hundred seventeen dollars ($617) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is seven hundred fifty-five dollars ($755). (22) (A) For a Type 22 - Wine blender (to be computed only on the gallons produced); 5,000 gallons or less: the fee through September 30, 2019, is seventy-one dollars ($71) and the fee on and after October 1, 2019, is one hundred ten dollars ($110). ( [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]