Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau March 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is amending its regulations to implement certain provisions of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (the Act). This final rule amends existing regulations to reflect increases in the Federal excise tax rates on tobacco products and cigarette papers and tubes, revises existing floor stocks tax regulations to reflect the scope of the floor stocks tax provisions of the Act, and revises existing regulations to include the new statutory criteria for denial, suspension, or revocation of tobacco permits. We also are soliciting comments from all interested parties on these amendments through a notice of proposed rulemaking published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

This Treasury decision establishes the 868-square mile ``Haw River Valley'' viticultural area in Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Guilford, Orange, and Rockingham Counties, North Carolina. We designate viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.