Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau September 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In response to an industry member request, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau extends the comment period for Notice No. 73, Labeling and Advertising of Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages, a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on July 31, 2007, for an additional 90 days.

In this notice, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to amend its regulations regarding the mandatory labeling requirements for alcoholic beverages. The proposed regulatory changes would permit alcohol content to appear on other labels affixed to the container rather than on the brand label as currently required. These regulatory changes will provide greater flexibility in alcoholic beverage labeling, and will conform the TTB wine labeling regulations to the recent agreement reached by members of the World Wine Trade Group regarding the presentation of certain information on wine labels.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is adopting as a final rule, with minor technical changes, temporary regulations that revised the list of materials authorized for the treatment of wine and juice and the list of processes authorized for the treatment of wine, juice, and distilling material. The regulatory amendments involved the addition of new materials and processes and changes to the limitations on the use of certain approved materials.