§ 27.140 - Certification requirements for wine.

§ 27.140 Certification requirements for wine.

(a) Definitions. When used in this section, the following terms have the meaning indicated:

Affiliate means any one of two or more persons if one of such persons has actual or legal control, directly or indirectly, whether by stock ownership or otherwise, of the other or others of such persons, and includes a winery's parent or subsidiary or any other entity in which the winery's parent or subsidiary has a controlling ownership interest. An affiliate also means any one of two or more persons subject to common control, actual or legal, directly or indirectly, whether by stock ownership or otherwise.

Produced , when used with reference to wine, means removed from the fermenter.

Proper cellar treatment means a production practice or procedure authorized for natural wine by part 24 of this chapter, or, in the case of natural wine produced and imported subject to an international agreement or treaty, those practices and procedures acceptable to the United States under that agreement or treaty.

(b) Certification -

(1) General. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, an importer of natural wine must have an original or copy of a certification from the producing country stating that the practices and procedures used to produce the imported wine constitute proper cellar treatment. The importer of bottled wine must be in possession of the certificate at the time of filing the entry with CBP, and the bottler of bulk wine must be in possession of the certificate at the time the wine is withdrawn from the premises where bottled. The importer or bottler, as appropriate, must provide the certificate upon request by the appropriate TTB officer or a customs officer. This requirement may be satisfied by providing the original certification, or a photocopy or electronic copy of the certification. The appropriate TTB officer or a customs officer may request, and the importer or bottler must provide, such information for a period of three years from the date that the product covered by the certificate was released from customs custody or removed from the bottler's premises, as applicable. The certification:

(i) Must be from a governmental or government-approved entity having oversight or control over enological practices in the producing country under the laws of that country;

(ii) Must include the results of a laboratory analysis of the wine conducted either by a government laboratory of the producing country or by a laboratory certified by the government of the producing country; and

(iii) Must be in the possession of the importer at the time of release of the wine from customs custody and may cover multiple importations provided that the wine in each case is of the same brand and class or type, was made by the same producer, was subjected to the same cellar treatment, and conforms to the statements made on the certification.

(2) Alternative certifications and exemptions -

(i) The following are alternatives to the producing country certification and laboratory analysis requirement described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section:

(A) In the case of natural wine produced and imported subject to an international agreement or treaty specifying that the practices and procedures used to produce the wine are acceptable to the United States, no producing country certification and laboratory analysis is required, unless that international agreement or treaty requires a certification, in which case the importer must have in his or her possession at the time of release of the wine from customs custody an original or copy of that certification.

(B) If an importer of natural wine or its affiliate owns or controls a winery operating under a basic permit issued under part 1 of this chapter, in lieu of a producing country certification and laboratory analysis, the importer may self-certify that the practices and procedures used to produce the wine constitute proper cellar treatment. The self-certification must be either in the format set forth in paragraph (c) of this section with blocks 1 through 4 completed or in an alternative format that sets forth the same information, and it must be in the possession of the importer at the time of release of the wine from customs custody. In the case of self-certification the importer also must have at the time of release from customs custody records to establish that the requirements for self-certification are met.

(ii) The following are exempt from any certification requirement under this section:

(A) Natural wine produced before January 1, 2005. However, in this case, the importer must have in his or her possession at the time of release of the wine from customs custody records to establish that the wine was produced before January 1, 2005.

(B) Importations of natural wine that are of a personal, non-commercial nature. Examples of non-commercial importations include importations by travelers, gift shipments between individuals, and importations by diplomats for embassy or consular use.

(C) Importations of natural wine that constitute commercial samples. Commercial samples include sales samples, samples for trade shows, and samples for laboratory analysis.

(D) Imported natural wine held on board international passenger carriers, such as cruise ships or airliners.

(c) Form. The format for certification referred to in paragraph (b) of this section is the following:

(d) Preparation of Certification. The following rules apply for the completion of the certification set forth in paragraph (c) of this section:

(1) Block 1 must state the legal name and address (including country) of the producer of the wine.

(2) Block 2 must include a complete description of the wine, including its brand name, year of production, class or type, and country of origin.

(3) The importer must check the applicable box in block 3:

(i) The importer must check box 3a and ensure that blocks 4 and 5 are completed if no alternative certification applies to the wine under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section.

(ii) If paragraph (b)(2)(i)(B) applies to the wine, the importer must check box 3b and complete the certification in block 4.

(4) If the certification is submitted subsequent to approval of a label, the importer must complete block 6 by including the TTB identification number from the certificate of label approval, TTB Form 5100.31.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control numbers 1513-0064 and 1513-0119)

[T.D. TTB-31, 70 FR 49483, Aug. 24, 2005, as amended by T.D. TTB-145, 81 FR 94206, Dec. 22, 2016]