Arizona Laws 4-243. Commercial coercion or bribery unlawful; exceptions
A. It is unlawful for a person engaged in the business of distiller, vintner, brewer, rectifier or blender or any other producer or wholesaler of any spirituous liquor, directly or indirectly, or through an affiliate:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 4-243
- Department: means the department of liquor licenses and control. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Director: means the director of the department of liquor licenses and control. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Distilled spirits: includes alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, tequila, mescal, gin, absinthe, a compound or mixture of any of them or of any of them with any vegetable or other substance, alcohol bitters, bitters containing alcohol, fruits preserved in ardent spirits, and any alcoholic mixture or preparation, whether patented or otherwise, that may in sufficient quantities produce intoxication. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Employee: means any person who performs any service on licensed premises on a full-time, part-time or contract basis with consent of the licensee, whether or not the person is denominated an employee or independent contractor or otherwise. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Legal drinking age: means twenty-one years of age or older. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- License: means a license or an interim retail permit issued pursuant to this title. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Off-sale retailer: means any person that operates a bona fide regularly established retail liquor store that sells spirituous liquors, wines and beer and any established retail store that sells commodities other than spirituous liquors and that is engaged in the sale of spirituous liquors only in the original unbroken package, to be taken away from the premises of the retailer and to be consumed off the premises. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- On-sale retailer: means any person operating an establishment where spirituous liquors are sold in the original container for consumption on or off the premises or in individual portions for consumption on the premises. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Permanent occupancy: means the maximum occupancy of the building or facility as set by the office of the state fire marshal for the jurisdiction in which the building or facility is located. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Person: includes a partnership, limited liability company, association, company or corporation, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- Sell: includes soliciting or receiving an order for, keeping or exposing for sale, directly or indirectly delivering for value, peddling, keeping with intent to sell and trafficking in. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Spirituous liquor: includes alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, tequila, mescal, gin, wine, porter, ale, beer, any malt liquor or malt beverage, absinthe, a compound or mixture of any of them or of any of them with any vegetable or other substance, alcohol bitters, bitters containing alcohol, any liquid mixture or preparation, whether patented or otherwise, that produces intoxication, fruits preserved in ardent spirits, and beverages containing more than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
- Wine: means the product obtained by the fermentation of grapes, other agricultural products containing natural or added sugar or cider or any such alcoholic beverage fortified with grape brandy and containing not more than twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume. See Arizona Laws 4-101
- Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215
1. To require that a retailer purchase spirituous liquor from the producer or wholesaler to the exclusion, in whole or in part, of spirituous liquor sold or offered for sale by other persons.
2. To induce a retailer by any form of commercial bribery to purchase spirituous liquor from the producer or wholesaler to the exclusion, in whole or in part, of spirituous liquor sold or offered for sale by other persons.
3. To acquire an interest in property owned, occupied or used by the retailer in the retailer’s business, or in a license with respect to the premises of the retailer.
4. To furnish, give, rent, lend or sell to the retailer equipment, fixtures, signs, supplies, money, services or other things of value, subject to the exception as the rules adopted pursuant to this title may prescribe, having regard for established trade customs and the purposes of this subsection.
5. To pay or credit the retailer for advertising, display or distribution service, except that the director may adopt rules regarding advertising in conjunction with seasonal sporting events.
6. To guarantee a loan or repayment of a financial obligation of the retailer.
7. To extend credit to the retailer on a sale of spirituous liquor.
8. To require the retailer to take and dispose of a certain quota of spirituous liquor.
9. To offer or give a bonus, a premium or compensation to the retailer or any of the retailer’s officers, employees or representatives.
B. This section does not prohibit any distiller, vintner, brewer, rectifier, blender or other producer or wholesaler of any spirituous liquor from:
1. Giving financial and other forms of event sponsorship assistance to nonprofit or charitable organizations for purposes of charitable fundraising that are issued special event licenses by the department. This section does not prohibit suppliers from advertising their sponsorship at such special events.
2. Providing samples to retail consumers at on-sale premises establishments according to the following procedures:
(a) Sampling operations shall be conducted under the supervision of an employee of the sponsoring producer or wholesaler.
(b) Sampling shall be limited to sixteen ounces of beer or cooler products, six ounces of wine or two ounces of distilled spirits per person per brand.
(c) If requesting the on-sale retailer to prepare a drink for the consumer, the producer’s or wholesaler’s representative shall pay the retailer for the sample drink.
(d) The producer or wholesaler may not buy the on-sale retailer or the retailer’s employees a drink during their working hours or while they are engaged in waiting on or serving customers.
(e) The producer or wholesaler may not give a keg of beer or any spirituous liquor or any other gifts or benefits to the on-sale retailer.
(f) All sampling procedures shall comply with federal sampling laws and regulations.
3. Providing samples to retail consumers on an off-sale retailer‘s premises according to the following procedures:
(a) Sampling shall be conducted by an employee of the sponsoring producer or wholesaler.
(b) The producer or wholesaler shall notify the department in writing or by electronic means at least five days before the sampling of the date, time and location of the sampling and of the name of the wholesaler or producer distributing the product.
(c) Sampling is limited to three ounces of beer, one and one-half ounces of wine or one ounce of distilled spirits per person per day for consumption on the premises and up to seventy-two ounces of beer and two ounces of distilled spirits per person per day for consumption off the premises.
(d) An off-sale retailer shall not allow sampling to be conducted on a licensed premises on more than twelve days in any calendar year per wholesaler or producer.
(e) Sampling shall be limited to two wholesalers or producers at any one off-sale retailer’s premises on any day and shall not exceed three hours on any day per approved sampling.
(f) A producer conducting sampling shall buy the sampled product from a wholesaler or from the retailer where the sampling is being conducted. If the product for the sampling is purchased from the retailer, the amount paid for the product must be the same amount that the retailer charges for sale to the general public.
(g) The producer or wholesaler shall not provide samples to any person who is under the legal drinking age.
(h) The producer or wholesaler shall designate an area in which sampling is conducted that is in the portion of the licensed premises where spirituous liquor is primarily displayed and separated from the remainder of the off-sale retailer’s premises by a wall, rope, door, cable, cord, chain, fence or other barrier. The producer or wholesaler shall not allow persons under the legal drinking age from entering the area in which sampling is conducted. If the retail location has been issued a permanent sampling privilege from the department, the requirement for separation from the remainder of the premises by wall, rope, door, cable, cord, chain, fence or other barrier is not required.
(i) The producer or wholesaler may not provide samples to the retailer or the retailer’s employees.
(j) Sampling shall not be conducted in retail premises with a total of under five thousand square feet of retail space unless at least seventy-five percent of the retailer’s shelf space is dedicated to the sale of spirituous liquor.
(k) The producer or wholesaler may not give spirituous liquor or any other gifts or benefits to the off-sale retailer.
(l) All sampling procedures shall comply with federal sampling laws and regulations.
C. Notwithstanding subsection A, paragraph 4 of this section, any wholesaler of any spirituous liquor may sell tobacco products or foodstuffs to a retailer at a price not less than the cost to the wholesaler.
D. Notwithstanding subsection A, paragraph 4, and subsection B, paragraph 2, subdivision (e) of this section, any wholesaler may furnish without cost promotional items to an on-sale retailer, except that the total market value of the promotional items furnished by that wholesaler to that retailer in any calendar year shall not exceed $700. For the purposes of this subsection, "promotional items" means items of equipment, supplies, novelties or other advertising specialties that conspicuously display the brand name of a spirituous liquor product. Promotional items do not include signs, dispensing or tapping machines or equipment or refrigerators.
E. Notwithstanding subsection A, paragraphs 4 and 7 of this section, a wholesaler may in the wholesaler’s sole discretion accept the return of malt beverage products from a retailer under any of the following conditions:
1. The retailer’s licensed premises will be closed for business for thirty or more consecutive days, and the products are likely to spoil or expire during the business closing period.
2. The retailer’s licensed premises is used primarily as a music or live sporting venue with a permanent occupancy of more than one thousand people, and the products are likely to spoil or expire during the time period between venue events.
3. The retailer holds a governmental entity license and conducts less than six events per year at which products are sold, and the products are likely to spoil or expire during the time period between events.
F. It is unlawful for a retailer to request or knowingly receive anything of value that a distiller, vintner, brewer, rectifier or blender or any other producer or wholesaler is prohibited by subsection A, D or E of this section from furnishing to a retailer, except that this subsection does not prohibit special discounts provided to retailers and based on quantity purchases.