California Approves DTC Spirit Shipping Bill

The US state of California has passed a bill to permanently allow distillers to ship their spirits directly to consumers.

The SB 620 bill was passed by the California Senate Committee on 11 January and will now head to the state’s Committee on Appropriations. Wineries in the state have been allowed to ship their products directly to consumers for more than 30 years.

In March 2020, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) allowed distillers to temporarily ship directly to consumers due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The measure was set to expire on 1 January 2022.

However, the direct-to-consumer (DTC) emergency relief measure was extended for distillers at the end of 2021 to 31 March this year.

Read more here.