2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 61 - Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages
CHAPTER 4 - BEER, ALE, PORTER, AND WINE
Section 61-4-940. Practices between manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer.
(A) A manufacturer or brewer of beer, ale, porter, or other malt beverages or a person who imports these products produced outside the United States must not sell, barter, exchange, transfer, or deliver for resale beer to a person not having a wholesale permit issued under Section 61-4-500, and a holder of a wholesale permit must not sell, barter, exchange, transfer, or deliver for resale beer to a person not having a retail or wholesale permit.
(B) Except as provided in subsection (C), a manufacturer, brewer, importer, or wholesaler of beer, or a person acting on his behalf, must not furnish, give, rent, lend, or sell, directly or indirectly, to the holder of a retail permit any equipment, fixtures, free beer, or service. The holder of a retail permit, or a person acting on his behalf, must not accept, directly or indirectly, any equipment, fixtures, free beer, or service referred to in this subsection from a manufacturer, brewer, importer, or wholesaler of beer, except as provided in subsection (C). With the consent of a holder of a retail permit, the wholesaler may store for a temporary period at the permit holder's licensed location equipment primarily utilized by the wholesaler in delivery and stocking of beer including, but not limited to, pallets, carts, and hand trucks.
(C) A wholesaler may furnish at no charge to the holder of a retail permit draft beer equipment replacement parts of nominal value, including washers, gaskets, hoses, hose connectors, clamps, and tap markers, party wagons for temporary use, and point of sale advertising specialties. A wholesaler may furnish at no charge to the holder of a retail permit product displays pursuant to the provisions of 27 C.F.R., Section 6.83, excluding electronic refrigeration equipment. A wholesaler also may furnish the following services to a retailer: cleaning draught lines, setting boxes, rotating stock, affixing price tags to beer products, and building beer displays.
(D) A manufacturer, brewer, and importer of beer are declared to be in business on one tier, a wholesaler on another tier, and a retailer on another tier. A person or an entity in the beer business on one tier, or a person acting directly or indirectly on his behalf, may not have ownership or financial interest in the beer business operation on another tier. This limitation does not apply to the interest held on July 1, 1980, by the holder of a wholesale permit in a business operated by the holder of a retail permit at premises other than where the wholesale business is operated. For purposes of this subsection, ownership or financial interest does not include the ownership of less than one percent of the stock in a corporation with a class of voting shares registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other federal agency under Section 12 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or a consulting agreement under which the consultant has no control over business decisions and whose compensation is unrelated to the profits of the business.
(E) A manufacturer, brewer, importer, or wholesaler of beer may discount product price based on quantity purchases if all discounts are on price only, appear on the sales records, and are available to all customers.
(F) No person or entity in the beer business on one tier may require a person or entity in the beer business on another tier to advertise or participate in a discount or special promotion or furnish the items delineated in subsection (C).
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 415, Section 1; 2010 Act No. 231, Section 1, eff June 7, 2010.
Effect of Amendment
The 2010 amendment in subsection (B), inserted the third sentence relating to the storage of equipment; in subsection (C), inserted the second sentence relating to product displays; and in subsection (F), inserted "or furnish the items delineated in subsection (C)".
