(1) There is a license for spirits distributors to (a) sell spirits purchased from manufacturers, distillers, or suppliers including, without limitation, licensed Washington distilleries, licensed spirits importers, other Washington spirits distributors, or suppliers of foreign spirits located outside of the United States, to spirits retailers including, without limitation, spirits retail licensees, special occasion license holders, interstate common carrier license holders, restaurant spirits retailer license holders, spirits, beer, and wine private club license holders, hotel license holders, sports entertainment facility license holders, and spirits, beer, and wine nightclub license holders, and to other spirits distributors; and (b) export the same from the state.
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Terms Used In Washington Code 66.24.055

  • Beer: means any malt beverage, flavored malt beverage, or malt liquor as these terms are defined in this chapter. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Board: means the liquor and cannabis board, constituted under this title. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Club: means an organization of persons, incorporated or unincorporated, operated solely for fraternal, benevolent, educational, athletic, or social purposes, and not for pecuniary gain. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Distiller: means a person engaged in the business of distilling spirits. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Fund: means 'liquor revolving fund. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Hotel: means buildings, structures, and grounds, having facilities for preparing, cooking, and serving food, that are kept, used, maintained, advertised, or held out to the public to be a place where food is served and sleeping accommodations are offered for pay to transient guests, in which twenty or more rooms are used for the sleeping accommodation of such transient guests. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Liquor: includes the four varieties of liquor herein defined (alcohol, spirits, wine, and beer), and all fermented, spirituous, vinous, or malt liquor, or combinations thereof, and mixed liquor, a part of which is fermented, spirituous, vinous or malt liquor, or otherwise intoxicating; and every liquid or solid or semisolid or other substance, patented or not, containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer, and all drinks or drinkable liquids and all preparations or mixtures capable of human consumption, and any liquid, semisolid, solid, or other substance, which contains more than one percent of alcohol by weight shall be conclusively deemed to be intoxicating. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Manufacturer: means a person engaged in the preparation of liquor for sale, in any form whatsoever. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Nightclub: means an establishment that provides entertainment and has as its primary source of revenue (a) the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises, (b) cover charges, or (c) both. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Regulations: means regulations made by the board under the powers conferred by this title. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Restaurant: means any establishment provided with special space and accommodations where, in consideration of payment, food, without lodgings, is habitually furnished to the public, not including drug stores and soda fountains. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • sell: include exchange, barter, and traffic; and also include the selling or supplying or distributing, by any means whatsoever, of liquor, or of any liquid known or described as beer or by any name whatever commonly used to describe malt or brewed liquor or of wine, by any person to any person; and also include a sale or selling within the state to a foreign consignee or his or her agent in the state. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Spirits: means any beverage which contains alcohol obtained by distillation, except flavored malt beverages, but including wines exceeding twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Spirits distributor: means a person, other than a person who holds only a retail license, who buys spirits from a domestic distiller, manufacturer, supplier, spirits distributor, or spirits importer, or who acquires foreign-produced spirits from a source outside of the United States, for the purpose of reselling the same not in violation of this title, or who represents such distiller as agent. See Washington Code 66.04.021
  • Wine: means any alcoholic beverage obtained by fermentation of fruits (grapes, berries, apples, et cetera) or other agricultural product containing sugar, to which any saccharine substances may have been added before, during or after fermentation, and containing not more than twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume, including sweet wines fortified with wine spirits, such as port, sherry, muscatel, and angelica, not exceeding twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume and not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume. See Washington Code 66.04.010
(2) By January 1, 2012, the board must issue spirits distributor licenses to all applicants who, upon December 8, 2011, have the right to purchase spirits from a spirits manufacturer, spirits distiller, or other spirits supplier for resale in the state, or are agents of such supplier authorized to sell to licensees in the state, unless the board determines that issuance of a license to such applicant is not in the public interest.
(3)(a) As limited by (b) of this subsection and subject to (c) of this subsection, each spirits distributor licensee must pay to the board, for deposit into the liquor revolving fund, a license issuance fee calculated as follows:
(i) In each of the first twenty-seven months of licensure, ten percent of the total revenue from all the licensee’s sales of spirits made during the month for which the fee is due, respectively; and
(ii) In the twenty-eighth month of licensure and each month thereafter, five percent of the total revenue from all the licensee’s sales of spirits made during the month for which the fee is due, respectively.
(b) The fee required under this subsection (3) is calculated only on sales of items which the licensee was the first spirits distributor in the state to have received:
(i) In the case of spirits manufactured in the state, from the distiller; or
(ii) In the case of spirits manufactured outside the state, from an authorized out-of-state supplier.
(c) By March 31, 2013, all persons holding spirits distributor licenses on or before March 31, 2013, must have paid collectively one hundred fifty million dollars or more in spirits distributor license fees. If the collective payment through March 31, 2013, totals less than one hundred fifty million dollars, the board must, according to rules adopted by the board for the purpose, collect by May 31, 2013, as additional spirits distributor license fees the difference between one hundred fifty million dollars and the actual receipts, allocated among persons holding spirits distributor licenses at any time on or before March 31, 2013, ratably according to their spirits sales made during calendar year 2012. Any amount by which such payments exceed one hundred fifty million dollars by March 31, 2013, must be credited to future license issuance fee obligations of spirits distributor licensees according to rules adopted by the board.
(d) A retail licensee selling for resale must pay a distributor license fee under the terms and conditions in this section on resales of spirits the licensee has purchased on which no other distributor license fee has been paid. The board must establish rules setting forth the frequency and timing of such payments and reporting of sales dollar volume by the licensee, with payments due quarterly in arrears.
(e) No spirits inventory may be subject to calculation of more than a single spirits distributor license issuance fee.
(4) In addition to the payment set forth in subsection (3) of this section, each spirits distributor licensee renewing its annual license must pay an annual license renewal fee of one thousand three hundred twenty dollars for each licensed location.
(5) There is no minimum facility size or capacity for spirits distributor licenses, and no limit on the number of such licenses issued to qualified applicants. License applicants must provide physical security of the product that is substantially as effective as the physical security of the distribution facilities currently operated by the board with respect to preventing pilferage. License issuances and renewals are subject to RCW 66.24.010 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, including without limitation rights of cities, towns, county legislative authorities, the public, churches, schools, and public institutions to object to or prevent issuance of local liquor licenses. However, existing distributor premises licensed to sell beer and/or wine are deemed to be premises “now licensed” under RCW 66.24.010(9)(a) for the purpose of processing applications for spirits distributor licenses.
[ 2013 2nd sp.s. c 12 § 1; 2012 c 2 § 105 (Initiative Measure No. 1183, approved November 8, 2011).]

NOTES:

Application—2013 2nd sp.s. c 12 § 1: “The changes made in section 1 of this act apply to spirits distributors licensed on or after January 1, 2012.” [ 2013 2nd sp.s. c 12 § 2.]
Effective date—2013 2nd sp.s. c 12: See note following RCW 66.24.632.
Finding—Application—Rules—Effective date—Contingent effective date—2012 c 2 (Initiative Measure No. 1183): See notes following RCW 66.24.620.
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