Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

     Purpose: The passage of Initiative 1183 has created an issue for beer/wine specialty store licensees that hold a spirits retail license. Beer/wine specialty store licensees are allowed to conduct tastings if over fifty percent of their gross sales are beer and wine. By adding spirits sales to their business it is impossible to sell more than fifty percent beer and wine. Tastings are a large part of promoting Washington wineries and their business. The rule needs to be amended to allow tastings to continue.

     Stakeholders also requested the board to amend this rule to allow a greater number of tastings per customer visit and to require employees conducting the tastings to be MAST trained.

     Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 314-02-105.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 66.24.371.

     Other Authority: RCW 66.08.030.

      Adopted under notice filed as WSR 13-04-099 on February 6, 2013.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Date Adopted: March 20, 2013.

Sharon Foster

Chairman

OTS-5128.4

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 11-23-045, filed 11/9/11, effective 12/10/11)

WAC 314-02-105   What is a beer and/or wine specialty store license?   (1) Per RCW 66.24.371, a beer and/or wine specialty store license allows a licensee to sell beer and/or wine for off-premises consumption.

     (2) The annual fee for this license is one hundred dollars.

     (3) Qualifications for license - To obtain and maintain a beer and/or wine specialty store license, the premises must be stocked with an inventory of beer and/or wine in excess of three thousand dollars wholesale value. This inventory must be:

     (a) Stocked within the confines of the licensed premises; and

     (b) Maintained on the premises at all times the premises is licensed, with the exception of beginning and closing inventory for seasonal operations or when the inventory is being sold out immediately prior to discontinuing or selling the business.

     (4) Qualifications to sample - A beer and/or wine specialty store licensee may allow customers to sample beer and wine for the purpose of sales promotion, if the primary business is the sale of beer and/or wine at retail, and the licensee meets the requirements outlined in either (a) or (b) of this subsection:

     (a) A licensee's gross retail sales of ((beer and/or wine)) alcohol exceeds fifty percent of all annual gross sales for the entire business; or

     (b) The licensed premises is a beer and/or wine specialty store that conducts bona fide cooking classes for the purpose of pairing beer and/or wine with food, under the following conditions:

     (i) The licensee must establish to the satisfaction of the board that the classes are bona fide cooking courses. The licensee must charge participants a fee for the course(s).

     (ii) The sampling must be limited to a clearly defined area of the premises.

     (iii) The licensee must receive prior approval from the board's licensing and regulation division before conducting sampling with cooking classes.

     (iv) Once approved for sampling, the licensee must provide the board's enforcement and education division a list of all scheduled cooking classes during which beer and/or wine samples will be served. The licensee must notify the board's enforcement and education division at least forty-eight hours in advance if classes are added.

     (5) Licensees who qualify for sampling under subsection (4) of this ((rule)) section may sample under the following conditions:

     (a) Employees conducting sampling must hold a class 12 alcohol server permit;

     (b) No more than a total of ((eight)) ten ounces of alcohol may be provided to a customer during any one visit to the premises;

     (((b))) (c) Each sample must be two ounces or less((; and

     (c) No more than one sample of any single brand and type of beer or wine may be provided to a customer during any one visit to the premises)).    

     (6) A beer and/or wine specialty store licensee may sell beer in kegs or other containers holding at least four gallons of beer. See WAC 314-02-115 regarding keg registration requirements.

     (7) A beer and/or wine specialty store licensee may receive an endorsement to permit the sale of beer to a purchaser in a sanitary container brought to the premises by the purchaser, or provided by the licensee or manufacturer, and filled at the tap by the licensee at the time of sale under the following conditions:

     (a) The beer and/or wine specialty store sales must exceed fifty percent of their total sales; or

     (b) The board may waive the fifty percent beer and/or wine sale criteria if the beer and/or wine specialty store maintains a wholesale alcohol inventory that exceeds fifteen thousand dollars.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 66.08.030 and chapter 66.24 RCW. 11-23-045, § 314-02-105, filed 11/9/11, effective 12/10/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 66.08.030 and 66.24.363. 11-01-133, § 314-02-105, filed 12/21/10, effective 1/21/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 66.08.030 and 66.24.600. 10-01-091, § 314-02-105, filed 12/16/09, effective 1/16/10. Statutory Authority: RCW 66.08.030, 66.24.371. 04-19-156, § 314-02-105, filed 9/22/04, effective 10/23/04; 04-07-020, § 314-02-105, filed 3/8/04, effective 4/8/04. Statutory Authority: RCW 66.08.030, 66.24.010, 66.24.120. 00-07-091, § 314-02-105, filed 3/15/00, effective 4/15/00.]