TTB Label Approvals……Make Sure to Plan Ahead!
Wineries beware! TTB label approval times are now back up to over 30 days!
Here is my post from 2 years ago w/info on how you can plan ahead for this necessary step in the process:
All wines that are bottled by wineries to be sold for consumption are required to have a federal label approval. The industry term for this is certificate of label approval, or COLA. Of the three alcoholic beverage categories (Beer, Wine and spirits) the number of applications for label approval received by the federal regulating agency, the TTB from the wine industry makes up over 80% of the total. Add to this scenario the current government budget issues which have resulted in staff cuts and retirements at the TTB and the end result is label approval processing time has gone up. Many in the industry had become accustomed to their label approval turn around time lasting about 10 working days. (This is for those using the TTB’s electronic filing system, COLAs Online) That time frame now has now gone up to 38 Days! Read more
2012 Winery Compliance Wrap Up…….& What To Watch For in 2013.
Here we are at years end. A time often focused on assessing the years events & developments, ups and downs. For the winemaking world 2012 has already been marked as an incredible one in relation specifically to the grape harvest. (At least here in California) But what about in relation to compliance? What were the stories there? And what's to come for wineries in 2013 that they'll want to pay attention to for keeping on top of their compliance? Read more
Wineries – Are You Out of Bounds on Your Bond?
I recently wrote a post about one of the potential compliance side effects related to this years high yield harvest. Afterwards, while I was talking to a client I was reminded of another potential compliance issue. He asked about the topic of bond coverage and what happens if wineries go outside their limits.
First, let me put all of that into laymans terms and how it ties into this years high volume harvest. All wineries have specific bond coverage (TTB requirement) which is an insurance policy that covers the total tax liability for wines they have on their site at any given time. If their total volume goes over that coverage amount in the event of an accident or an audit they would be outside their coverage amounts on their TTB reports. In both cases something they can be fined for or worse, held responsible for tax liability on wine that accidentally was lost. Read more