Home.Focus on Labeling, Advertising, Tax, and Trade Practice Compliance
Focus on Labeling, Advertising, Tax, and Trade Practice Compliance
Passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 split the former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) into two entities on January 24, 2003. We became the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in the Department of the Treasury, and the former ATF became the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the Department of Justice. TTB continues to regulate labeling, advertising, tax, and trade practices, and industry members at all levels, including producers, importers, and wholesalers, should expect an increase in inspections and examinations in the coming months and years.
In recent years, our predecessor saw its field resources absorbed by the demands of the firearms and explosives programs and the fight against violent crime. With limited staffing, alcohol and tobacco compliance programs inevitably lost the attention they received 10 or 20 years ago. Some newer industry members have never been contacted or visited by an alcohol or tobacco inspector and are unaware that, historically, TTB's predecessors were very active in field compliance checks and robustly enforced advertising, labeling, tax, and trade practice rules.
Our new structure allows our small workforce to dedicate elements to each of the program areas. In fact, we are expanding our advertising program and developing an importers investigative program. TTB's new organization includes the following divisions:
- Trade Investigations, which focuses primarily on nonrevenue compliance issues;
- Tax Audit, which focuses exclusively on the audit of tax returns and claims; and
- Advertising, Labeling, and Formulation, which focuses on preventing consumer deception related to alcohol labels, formulas, and advertising.
The Trade Investigations Division (TID) plans to—
- Conduct product integrity inspections at alcohol beverage producers' facilities in order to verify adherence with regulatory production standards and labeling rules;
- Visit importers to verify compliance with label approval requirements;
- Conduct surveys of selected markets to determine compliance with trade practice rules and visit wholesalers in the process; and
- Continue the new TTB's aggressive program of field review for new entrants.
The Tax Audit Division plans to—
- Perform full scope tax audits of selected industry members who are expected to file and pay Federal excise tax; and
- Perform field verification of selected claims for refund of excise tax.
The Advertising, Labeling, and Formulation Division plans to—
- Take a proactive approach to reviewing and monitoring alcohol advertising;
- Contact producers and importers and request they provide all current advertising materials, such as posters, flyers, points of sale, press releases, and Web site and Web page materials, as well as video and television and radio spot transcripts; and
- Examine advertising to determine compliance with mandatory and prohibited statement requirements. We pay particular attention to prohibited statements and health related statements and depictions that suggest a relationship between the consumption of alcohol and health benefits.
What does our streamlined structure mean to you as an industry member?
You may or may not be contacted. We select industry members for inspection based on various indicators, as well as random factors, and respond to specific complaints or referrals.
If you have questions about labeling, advertising, or formulations, please contact the Advertising, Labeling, and Formulation Division by calling 202-927-8140 or our toll free number 1-866-0927-ALFD (2533). You may also send questions by e-mail to alfd@ttb.treas.gov.
You should direct questions about Trade Investigations or Tax Audit to the division directors by calling 202-927-9200 or by e-mailing TTBInternetQuestions@ttb.gov.
| Page last reviewed/updated: 09/04/2012 |
No FEAR Act | Disaster Relief | Treas.gov | Inspector General | White House | Recovery.gov |
USA.gov | USA Freedom Corps | Webmaster