Legislative, Government Affairs & Legal Updates

In his fall legislative agenda, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf urged the state Legislature to legalize recreational marijuana and use proceeds from its sale to support business grants and restorative justice programs, as well as pass a six-month reduction or cancellation of the state’s alcohol tax on the hospitality industry.

A proposed class-action lawsuit alleges that Anheuser-Busch InBev is deceiving consumers by positioning its Veza Sur brewery in Miami as a craft brewery.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is in short supply, both gas suppliers and brewers have confirmed.

Citing an influx of advertising touting the health benefits of certain alcoholic beverages, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published a memo warning producers to stop making such claims.

The lawsuit filed by French agri-business cooperative Agrial Group against Seattle Cider Company and Two Beers Brewing Company founder Joel VandenBrink has been settled.

Cans are a hot topic for the nation’s brewers, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of bars and restaurants for several months. Without on-premise venues to visit, Americans began to drink more beer at home, and cans picked up the slack in the market left by draft beer. Ball, the world’s largest manufacturer of aluminum cans, said inventory is likely to be sold out or severely tight for the remainder of the year.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has named Mary Ryan as its new administrator, effective August 16.

The board of directors of national not-for-profit trade group the Brewers Association (BA) has approved its first ever code of conduct for member breweries after criticism from industry professionals and consumers that it was too often silent in the wake of racist incidents.

With the nation’s can supply tightening, President Donald Trump yesterday announced the reimposition of a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminum, claiming that America’s neighbor to the north was flooding the market.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Annual Convention won’t be taking place in-person in Orlando, Florida, this October after all. The largest meeting of beer wholesalers in the country will instead go virtual from October 4-7. The NBWA was set to host its Annual Convention in Orlando in early October, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has rendered those plans unfeasible.

The clock seemed to expire last week on Massachusetts craft brewers’ hopes of finally achieving franchise law reform. After finally reaching a compromise with wholesalers after a decade of contentious negotiations, the measure (S. 2841) unanimously passed the Senate but couldn’t get out of the House Ways and Means Committee before the expiration of the legislative session last Friday.

In a time when off-premise beer sales top $1 billion weekly, without the on-premise half of the trade, the beer industry still has “a hole to dig out of,” National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist Lester Jones said during a webinar presented by invoice tech firm Fintech.

Citing what he called a “coordinated harassment campaign,” Stone Brewing co-founder Greg Koch took to his brewery’s blog earlier this week to address a trademark dispute with Morehead, Kentucky-based Sawstone Brewing.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on craft breweries are beginning to be revealed as the Brewers Association (BA) today reported that craft beer volumes have declined around 10% through the first half of 2020.