SECTION 19G. Tenant brewer license; applications; importation of raw materials; record keeping and reporting; fees

(a) The commission may issue a tenant brewer license which authorizes the licensee to manufacture or package malt beverages on the premises of a host brewer to any individual applicant who is a resident and citizen of the commonwealth or to a corporation, partnership or other entity which complies with the requirements of section 26 and is a holder of a certificate of compliance issued pursuant to section 18B. An applicant for a tenant brewer license shall provide the commission and the department of revenue with a true copy of the applicable alcoholic beverage license to manufacture, export and import as issued by the appropriate licensing authority.

To be eligible for a tenant brewer license, the applicant shall: (i) be licensed pursuant to section 19 or section 19C or a license holder outside the commonwealth that is authorized to manufacture, export and import malt beverages; (ii) comply with any federal law regulating the manufacture, export or import of malt beverages as identified by the commission in a written guidance that shall be issued to each host brewer, tenant brewer and wholesaler licensed pursuant to section 18; and (iii) shall have an approved alternating proprietorship arrangement that allows the applicant to use the facilities, equipment and employees of a host brewer.

A tenant brewer may import such raw materials as are required solely for the production and packaging of the malt beverages including, without limitation, bulk malt beverages produced by the tenant brewer at its brewery of origin. The bulk malt beverages imported by the tenant brewer shall be packaged and shipped back to the tenant brewer's brewery of origin or to a wholesaler licensed pursuant to section 18 or to a license holder outside the commonwealth authorized to import malt beverages designated by the tenant brewer within 10 days after receipt by the host brewer.

Any product produced or packaged at the host brewer's premises shall be removed from the host brewer's premises within 10 days after the brewing or packaging process is completed. The finished product shall be returned to the tenant brewer's brewery of origin or to a wholesaler licensed pursuant to section 18 or to a license holder outside the commonwealth authorized to import malt beverages designated by the tenant brewer.

(b) The commission shall require a tenant brewer and a host brewer to maintain a record or log indicating which equipment is being used at any time by the tenant brewer in the production or packaging of malt beverages and which employees are working on production or packaging of the tenant brewer's product. A tenant brewer shall be subject to the same reporting requirements as the host brewer.

A tenant brewer license issued pursuant to this section shall not authorize the licensee to sell malt beverages to any person or entity other than a wholesaler licensed pursuant to section 18. A tenant brewer licensee shall only be authorized to manufacture or package malt beverages pursuant to this section.

(c) The annual fee for a license issued under this section shall be $1,000.

(d) For the purposes of this section, ''package'' shall mean a keg, cask, barrel, bottle, can or other container approved by the United States Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for malt beverages. For the purposes of this section, ''brewery of origin'' shall mean any brewery at which a tenant brewer is duly licensed to manufacture malt beverages other than at the host brewer's premises.