Texas Advertising and Labeling Laws Found Unconstitutional

“The practice of law is often dry, and it is the rare case that presents an issue of genuine interest to the public. This is just such a case, however.”*

The First Amendment and beer aren’t typical dance partners, but they dosey doed on December 19, 2011 when the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas granted summary judgment in part for plaintiffs in Authentic Beverages Co., Inc. v. Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Comm’n. In granting partial summary judgment, the Court found in favor of plaintiffs’ arguments that the First Amendment was violated by Texas’ statutes and regulations that (a) prohibited breweries and distributors from telling customers where their products can be purchased, (b) prohibited advertising the alcoholic content of malt beverages or any suggestions of alcoholic strength, and (c) mandated the use of “beer”, “ale” and “malt liquor” labels on malt beverages with such terms statutorily defined in a manner inconsistent with the ordinary use of those terms.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission decided not to appeal the District Court’s decision and instead published Marketing Practice Bulletin 49, Changes to Current Regulations – Advertising and Labeling, on January 6^th (available here). The Bulletin will eventually be superseded by formal rulemaking from the Commission after a stakeholders’ meeting on January 27, 2012. Until new rules are in place, the Bulletin allows manufacturers and distributors to advertise the retail locations where their products can be bought, provided such advertising is not cooperative. Additionally, manufacturers and distributors may refer to alcoholic content, including using words like “full strength” and “strong” in advertisements. Finally, brewers may continue to label malt beverages in accordance with the definitions of “beer,” “ale” and “malt liquor” provided in §1.04 of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, or they may provide the percentage of alcohol by volume (“abv”), stated to the nearest 1/10^th of a percent, on the label. If abv is stated, the product may also be labeled with whatever term for such product is commonly recognized in the brewing industry. For purposes of Texas regulatory matters products labeled 5.1% abv or less will be considered beer by the Commission.

* Authentic Beverages Co., Inc. v. Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Comm’n, No. A-10-CA-710-SS (D. W.D. Tex., December 19, 2011), available at http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/tx/abc.pdf.

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alcohol advertising First amendment Texas TABC Texas ABC

This entry was posted on January 10, 2012.