June 19, 2009
Greetings! Hope you are having a stupendous and peaceful week! This week's offerings include detailed information concerning our new organic labeling policies, a sneak peek at our new TTB.gov Web site, and details about the signing of an agreement with the Republic of Georgia.
In the TTB Newsletter, we compile the top TTB news of the week and other helpful information about the Bureau and the Federal alcohol and tobacco laws and regulations we enforce. Please send any questions and/or comments to Executive Liaison for Industry Matters (IndustryLiaison@ttb.gov) and/or (stateliaison@ttb.com).
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INFO SHEET ON NEW ORGANIC LABELING POLICIES
Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), TTB has been charged with implementing the organic program as it relates to evaluating organic claims on beverage alcohol products on behalf of AMS/USDA. TTB would like to notify the industry that AMS, in the interest of clear disclosure to the consumer, has changed the labeling policies for wines which contain both organic and non-organic grapes.
Labeling Wine Containing Organic and Non-Organic Grapes
Wine labeled with a "Made with Organic Ingredients" statement, and which contains organic and non-organic grapes, must indicate the presence of non-organic grapes in the "Made with Organic..." statement on the label. The following variations to this statement are acceptable:
- "Made with Organic and Non-Organic Grapes";
- "Made with Organic [variety] Grapes and Non-Organic [variety] Grapes";
- "Made with _% Organic Grapes and _% Grapes";
- "Made with _% Organic [variety] Grapes and _% Non-Organic [variety] Grapes"
In addition, wines restricted to an "Organic Ingredients" statement must indicate the presence of any non-organic grapes in the "Organic Ingredients" statement. An example of such a statement is "Ingredients: Organic Merlot grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, tartaric acid." As noted below, such a wine will also have to bear a percentage statement.
Percentage Statements on Wine Restricted to an "Organic Ingredients" Statement
When a wine is restricted to an "Organic Ingredients" statement and contains non-organic ingredients such as in the example above, a percentage statement such as "55% Organic Ingredients" must also be present on the label. The percentage statement must appear on the information panel in proximity to the "Organic Ingredients" statement. If a wine bears an "Organic Ingredients" statement in which no disclosure of non-organic ingredients is made, such as "Ingredients: Organic Grapes," then 100 percent of the ingredients in such wine must be organic.
However, when 100 percent of the ingredients are organic on a wine restricted to an "Organic Ingredients" statement, a percentage statement is prohibited in order to avoid consumer confusion with products meeting the "100% Organic Wine" standard.
Effective: June 2, 2009
REFRESH TTB.GOV
Welcome to a sneak peek at the "refreshed" look and feel of TTB.gov. Based on user feedback, we've made improvements that make TTB.gov easier and more satisfying to use. For example, we've added color and attractive icons to guide you to the top information, and we've reorganized the most popular information into easy-to-find sections. If you're coming to TTB.gov to complete a task, our new drop-down menus from the commodity tabs and our updated "How Do I?" sections in the subpages will be just the resources you need to find information and instructions quickly and efficiently. Read More
TTB SIGNS MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA
On June 4, 2009, William Foster, TTB Assistant Administrator, and Vasil Managadze, Chairman of the Republic of Georgia's Department of Vine and Wine, signed an MOU drafted with the intent to protect the public and establish a consistent channel for the exchange of information regarding imported and exported alcohol product. The MOU, signed in Tbilisi, Georgia, will establish a consultative process to strengthen cooperation in the administration of import and export alcohol regulations.