On Monday, September 29 2014, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) issued Industry Circular 2014-2, which expands the list of Allowable Revisions to Approved Alcohol Beverage Labels.
Industry Circular 2014-2 permits the following changes to already-approved malt beverage, wine and distilled spirits labels without the need for a new certificate of label approval (COLA):
- Deletion or revision of sponsorship themed graphics, logos, artwork, events, etc. and/or sponsorship information
- Addition, deletion or revision of awards, ratings or recognitions (i.e., “rated as the best 2012 wine by x association”)
- Deletion of organic claims (Note: The deletion of a single organic claim is not permitted. All organic claims must be removed from the label or a new COLA is required to delete individual references.)
- Revision of an approved sulfite/sulphite statement according to the formats prescribed in the Industry Circular (“Contains Sulfites/Sulphites,” “Contains (a) Sulfiting//Sulphiting Agent(s),” “Contains [name of specific sulfating/sulphating agent],” “Contains Naturally Occurring and Added Sulfites/Sulphites” or “Contains Naturally Occurring Sulfites/Sulphites”)
- Addition, deletion or revision of information regarding the number of bottles made, produced, distilled or brewed in a batch
- Addition of instructional statements vis-à-vis how to best consume and/or serve the product specified in the Industry Circular (“Refrigerate After Opening,” “Do Not Store In Direct Sunlight,” “Best If Frozen For ___ to ___ Hours,” “Shake Well,” “Pour Over Ice,” “Best When Chilled,” “Best Served Chilled,” “Serve Chilled,” “Serve at Room Temperature”)
