Sen. Daughtry introduces bill to support Maine's growing craft brewing industry

AUGUSTA – On Wednesday, Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, introduced a bill to add clarity to the state alcoholic beverage container label approval process. LD 740, “An Act to Clarify the Criteria for State Approval of Alcoholic Beverage Container Labels,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.

“As a co-owner of Moderation Brewing and a member of the Maine Brewers Guild, I am very familiar with the confusing, slow and unpredictable label approval process. Depending on where the beer is sold – in or out of the state – the label undergoes State and Federal approval, respectively,” said Sen. Daughtry. “LD 740 would clarify that the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations is legally required to use the same label review criteria that the Federal reviewers use. The bill would speed up the review process without weakening it.”

LD 740 would ensure that the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations (BABLO) has clear criteria for reviewing labels. The proposed statutory criteria would have BABLO check for labels that uses the same criteria that the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau uses when it reviews labels.

“LD 740 provides very clear rules about what criteria BABLO can use to reject to reject a container label,” said Kate Knox while providing testimony on behalf of the Maine Brewers’ Guild. “It puts guardrails on how labels will be evaluated and – most importantly – provides clarity and predictability to manufacturers seeking to comply with label requirements. This will ultimately benefit both consumers and producers.”

Breweries help drive Maine’s small business economy, contributing $2 billion in revenue and employing nearly 16,000 Mainers. In Maine, there are 165 active, licensed breweries; and Maine has the highest number of breweries per capita in the country.

The bill faces further action in committee.

###