Alcohol law: it’s still stuck in the post-prohibition era and yet always changing. We know it’s hard to keep track, so here are top areas where bev-alc lawyers are seeing more enforcement. Check Your Influencers Work with influencers or hire third parties for social media? The TTB put out an industry circular in October clarifying that whatever rules apply to alcohol advertising also apply to social media, which means suppliers should be doing more vetting of the marketing firms they work with. “Brands are outsourcing a lot of that work to third parties that work with these social media influencers that don't have any experience in beverage and don't understand the regulations involved,” said Rachel Lawson, an alcohol attorney at Dickinson Wright. “And so what happens is they put things out on social media and then the manufacturer gets popped with something.” By popped, she means given a citation. To avoid that, Lawson advises working with marketing companies that have dealt with bev-alc brands before – and asking them if they’ll compensate the supplier for any violations. Non-Alc Tricks Of The Trade Selling adult non-alc or crossover products? As those categories grow, the bev-alc lawyers over at McDermott Will & Emery want suppliers to remember that not all states regulate non-alc products equally. In certain states (Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska and Georgia) if a non-alc product was dealcoholized it will be treated as bev-alc even if it is below the 0.5% ABV threshold – meaning selling direct to consumer might be restricted and franchise laws may apply to those products. Certain states also restrict selling “imitation liquor” to underage consumers. And, if you’re selling non-alc and full-proof products in the same portfolio, regulators are particularly looking at the separation between business practices, so don’t let activities that are expressly prohibited in the alcohol space creep over from your non-alc salesforce (e.g. paying a retailer slotting fees). Direct-to-Consumer Shipping: “Don’t Be Cute” New York’s big direct-to-consumer win brought the number of states that allow direct-to-consumer spirits sales from out of state spirit suppliers to about nine, and Alex Koral, regulatory general counsel at ShipCompliant is hopeful the new law will provide an example for other states. But while the tally remains, Koral said to brands, “don’t take any shortcuts or try to be cute about it and find contract loopholes to try to get around those rules and ship where states don't otherwise allow it.” One area of enforcement that has picked up is age checks, so be sure you are being compliant on that front. We'll have more on the site this week, including what some of the biggest legal cases could imply for the new year. | 
