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TTB NEWSLETTER | Weekly News

September 4, 2020

IN THIS ISSUE

Greetings! We wish all of our subscribers a very enjoyable Labor Day weekend. This week’s top news includes 5 grape varieties that received administrative approval for use on American wine labels, the establishment of the Royal Slope AVA, some improvements we’ve made to COLAs Online and Formulas Online, an announcement about how to comment on 19 of TTB’s forms and other information collection instruments, and an system outage notice for TTBOnline applications.

NEW GRAPE VARIETY NAMES APPROVED FOR DESIGNATING AMERICAN WINE

We recently granted administrative approval for the use of the following grape variety names as type designations on American wine labels:

• Camminare Noir
• Paseante Noir
• Errante Noir
• Ambulo Blanc
• Caminante Blanc 

Wine bottlers may use these names, as well as other names granted administrative approval, to label American wines pending the results of our next rulemaking to revise the list found in 27 CFR 4.91 of grape variety names approved for use in designating American wines.

Visit our American Grape Variety Names page at TTB.gov for additional information about the regulation of grape variety names.

ROYAL SLOPE AVA ESTABLISHED

On September 2, 2020, we published T.D. TTB-162 in the Federal Register to establish the approximately 156,389-acre Royal Slope American viticultural area (AVA) in Grant and Adams Counties, in Washington State. The final rule is effective on October 2, 2020. The Royal Slope viticultural area is located entirely within the established Columbia Valley viticultural area. To view the location and boundaries use our AVA Map Explorer.

We are issuing this regulation in response to a petition submitted by a local wine industry member on behalf of local vineyard owners and vintners. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

See Docket No. TTB-2019-0008 on Regulations.gov for all documents and public comments related to this rulemaking.

UPDATED LOGIN SCREEN AND PASSWORD POLICY FOR COLAS ONLINE & FORMULAS ONLINE

You provided us with feedback and we listened.  We’ve recently taken the first step towards a more secure, user-friendly login process for COLAs Online and Formulas Online.

New Login Process. The login process for COLAs Online and Formulas Online has a new look and feel. Please see the screenshot below for a sample of the changes.

For additional information, see:

• What's New in Formulas Online
• What's New in COLAs Online

New Password Policy - We also made improvements to our password policy based on user feedback by doubling the time period before you have to reset your password from 60 days to 120 days. Additionally, if you forget your password we made it easier to reset your password online.

Screenshot:

Want to help shape future TTB system enhancements? If you are interested in helping us develop and test improvements to our services, please visit our volunteer page to sign up.

COMMENT ON OUR FORMS AND INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS

On Thursday, September 3, 2020, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, we published a notice requesting public comments on 19 existing TTB information collections (forms, recordkeeping requirements, and surveys).  These information collections include:

• OMB No. 1513-0083, Excise Tax Return (TTB F 5000.24)
• OMB No. 1513-0053, Report of Wine Premises Operations (TTB F 5120.17)
• OMB No. 1513-0009, Application to Establish and Operate Wine Premises, and Wine Bond (TTB F 5120.25 and F 5120.36)
• OMB No. 1513-0017, Drawback on Beer Exported (TTB F 5130.6)
• OMB No. 1513-0025, Notice of Release of Tobacco Products, Cigarette Papers, or Cigarette Tubes (TTB F 5200.11)
• OMB No. 1513-0038, Application for Transfer of Spirits and/or Denatured Spirits in Bond (TTB F 5100.16)
• OMB No. 1513-0123, Application, Permit, and Report - Wine and Beer (Puerto Rico); and Application, Permit, and Report – Distilled Spirits Products (Puerto Rico) (TTB F 5100.21 and F 5110.51)
• OMB No. 1513-0128, Records to Support Tax Free and Tax Overpayment Sales of Firearms and Ammunition (TTB F 5600.33, F 5600.34, F 5600.35, F 5600.36, and F 5600.37)

To view the full list see the public notice. To comment electronically, use the Regulations.gov comment form for the notice.  To view any comments received in response to the notice, see Regulations.gov Docket No. TTB-2020-0001.

SYSTEM ALERT

We will be conducting system maintenance next week: 

• From 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 10, to 6 a.m. ET on Friday, September 11

The following will be unavailable during this time:

• TTB.gov
• COLAs Online
• Formulas Online
• Permits Online
• Public COLA Registry

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Please visit the homepage of TTB.gov for the most recent news, or visit the Contact Us page if you have any questions.