G/TBT/N/USA/1501  
15 July 2019  
(19-4674) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES OF AME RICA  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Department of 
the Treasury [1526]  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
Please submit comments to: USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point  
Email: usatbtep@nist.gov  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other  [  ]:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where app licable):  Distilled 
spirits, malt beverages; Beer made from malt (HS 2203); Alcoholic beverages 
(ICS 67.160.10)  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Elimination of 
Certain Standards of Fill for Distilled Spirits; Amendment o f Malt Beverage Net Contents 
Labeling Regulation (10 page(s), in English)  
6. Description of content:  In this document, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 
Bureau (TTB) addresses numerous petitions requesting that TTB amend the regulations 
that govern distilled spirits containers to provide for additional authorized standards of 
fill. TTB is proposing t o eliminate all but minimum and maximum standards of fill for 
distilled spirits containers and thus eliminate unnecessary regulatory requirements and 
provide consumers broader purchasing options. TTB welcomes comments on this 
proposed deregulation, and it also seeks comments on the relative merits of alternatives, 
such as adding new authorized standards of fill and developing an expedited process for 
adding additional standards in the future. All of these approaches would eliminate 
restrictions that inhibit  competition and the movement of goods in domestic and 
international commerce.  
TTB is also proposing to amend the labeling regulations for distilled spirits and malt 
beverages to specifically provide that distilled spirits may be labeled with the equivalen t 
standard United States (U.S.) measure in addition to the mandatory metric measure, and 
that malt beverages may be labeled with the equivalent metric measure in addition to the 
mandatory U.S. measure. Such labeling is currently allowed, but that is not ex plicitly 
stated in current regulations. This revision will align the distilled spirits and malt beverage 
labeling regulations with current policy and also with the wine labeling regulations. The 
wine labeling regulations state that wine may be labeled with  the equivalent standard 
U.S. measure in addition to the mandatory metric measure.  G/TBT/N/USA/1501  
 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Consumer information, labelling; Prevention of deceptive practices and 
consumer protec tion; Harmonization; Reducing trade barriers and facilitating trade  
8. Relevant documents:   
• 84 Federal Register (FR) 31264, 1 July 2019; Title 27 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) Parts 5, 7, 26 and 27:  
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2019-07-01/html/2019 -13767.htm  
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2019-07-01/pdf/2019 -13767.pdf  
9. Propo sed date of adoption:  To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force:  To be determined  
10. Final date for comments:  30 August 2019  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2019/TBT/USA/19_3944_00_e.pdf