Alcoholic beverages: imports: personal or household use: reasonable amounts., the official text

An act to amend Section 23661 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to alcoholic beverages.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act imposes restrictions on the means and manner by which alcoholic beverages are imported into the state for delivery or use within the state, as
provided. Existing law provides an exception to these restrictions that allows an adult to bring a reasonable amount of alcoholic beverages into this state from without the United States for personal or household use. Existing law limits that personal or household use exception by restricting a California resident returning to the United States by a vehicle that is not a common carrier, or any adult entering the United States as a pedestrian, to the amount of alcoholic beverages that is exempt from the payment of duty in accordance with existing provisions of federal law.
This bill would instead limit the personal or household use exception by restricting any adult entering the United States as a pedestrian or by a vehicle that is not a common carrier to 6 liters of alcoholic beverages every 31 days.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 23661 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
23661.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, alcoholic beverages shall be brought into this state from without this state for delivery or use within the state only by common carriers and only when the alcoholic beverages are consigned to a licensed importer, and only when consigned to the premises of the licensed importer or to a licensed importer or customs broker at the premises of a public warehouse licensed under this division.
(b) The provisions of this chapter are not applicable in the case of alcoholic beverages that are sold and delivered by a licensee in this state to another licensee in this state, and that in the course of delivery are taken without this state through another state without any storage thereof in that other state.
(c) The provisions of subdivision (a) are not applicable in the case of a reasonable amount of alcoholic beverages brought into this state by an adult from without the United States for personal or household use, except that any adult entering the United States as a pedestrian or by a vehicle that is not a common carrier shall be restricted to no more than six liters of alcoholic beverages every 31 days. These alcoholic beverages shall be exempt from state licensing restrictions.
(d) The provisions of subdivision (a) are not applicable to incidental amounts of alcoholic beverages brought into this state by an adult for personal use from a hotel that is jointly located within the jurisdictions of this state and Nevada.
(e) The provisions of subdivision (a) are not applicable in the case of alcoholic beverages shipped into this state from without the United States by an adult member of the Armed Forces of the United States, serving outside the confines of the United States, for their personal or household use within the state in a quantity of alcoholic beverages as is exempt from the payment of duty under existing provisions of the Federal Tariff Act or regulations. These alcoholic beverages may be brought into this state only by common carrier and consigned to the premises of a licensed importer or customs broker, or to a licensed importer or customs broker at the premises of a public warehouse licensed under this division. Notwithstanding this division, the holder of an importer’s license, a customs broker’s license, or a public warehouse license, may make delivery of those alcoholic beverages as may be brought into this state under the provisions of this paragraph directly to the owner thereof upon satisfactory proof of identity. This delivery shall not be deemed to constitute a sale in this state.
(f) A manufacturer of distilled spirits shall transport those distilled spirits into this state in motor vehicles owned by or leased to the manufacturer, and operated by employees of the manufacturer, only if all of the following apply:
(1) The distilled spirits are transported into this state from a place of manufacture within the United States.
(2) The manufacturer holds a California distilled spirits manufacturer’s license.
(3) The delivery is made to the licensed premises of that distilled spirits manufacturer.