Label Approval and the Certificate
The certificate is not permission to sell a product. It is permission to put a specific label on a specific container, and that difference explains almost everything about how the process behaves when a design changes later on.
The rule in short
Under 27 U.S.C. 205(e) and 27 CFR Parts 4, 5 and 7, a certificate of label approval authorizes the bottling of wine, distilled spirits or malt beverages, or their removal from customs custody, provided the container bears labels identical to those on the face of the certificate or labels with changes TTB has authorized. Part 13 supplies the procedure for applying, for denial and appeal, and for revocation. Mandatory statements differ by beverage category.
A certificate of label approval, usually called a COLA, is issued on a single TTB form and authorizes the bottling of wine, distilled spirits or malt beverages, or the removal of bottled product from customs custody, as long as the container bears labels identical to those on the face of the certificate. It approves artwork rather than a product.
Who needs one and when
For domestic product the bottler applies, and the certificate must be obtained before bottling. No product covered by the requirement may be bottled or removed from the premises where it was bottled without one. For imported product the importer applies, and the certificate authorizes removal from customs custody for introduction into commerce.
The applicant must hold the appropriate underlying authorization: a basic permit for an importer, wholesaler, distiller or wine producer, or a brewer's notice for a brewery, as described in the federal permit requirements and who they cover. A certificate does not substitute for that authorization and cannot issue without it.
A separate certificate of exemption is available for wine and distilled spirits that will not enter interstate or foreign commerce at all. It carries an absolute condition against introduction into that commerce, directly or indirectly, and producers who later ship across a state line must obtain full certificates first.
The mandatory statements
Every category requires a brand name, a class or type designation, alcohol content, a name and address, and net contents. Beyond that the parts diverge. For wine, the brand label must carry the brand name and the class, type or other designation, while the name and address, net contents and alcohol content may appear on any label affixed to the container.
For distilled spirits, the brand name, the class or type designation and the alcohol content must appear within the same field of vision, defined as a single side of the container where all the items can be seen at once without turning it. The name and address of the bottler, distiller or importer and the net contents may appear anywhere on the container.
Several disclosures apply across categories where the underlying ingredient or process is present. They include statements for specified color additives, for sulfites at or above the threshold the rules set, and, for distilled spirits, for neutral spirits, coloring or treatment with wood, age, and aspartame. The health warning statement is imposed separately by Part 16, with its own placement and legibility rules.
Businesses regularly treat a certificate as clearance for a formulation, a marketing claim or a distribution plan. It is none of those. A certificate says the label may be used; it does not establish that the product meets a standard of identity, that a formula was required and obtained, that a claim can be substantiated, or that state labeling rules are satisfied. Products have been bottled under valid certificates and then found misbranded because the liquid did not match the designation the label carried.
| Category | Governing part | Placement rule for key items | Who applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wine | 27 CFR Part 4 | Brand name and designation on the brand label | Bottler, or importer for imports |
| Distilled spirits | 27 CFR Part 5 | Brand, designation and alcohol content in one field of vision | Bottler or distiller, or importer |
| Malt beverages | 27 CFR Part 7 | Labels identical to those on the certificate | Brewer or wholesaler bottling, or importer |
| Health warning | 27 CFR Part 16 | Separate placement and type size requirements | Bottler or importer |
| Exempt intrastate product | Parts 4 and 5 | Certificate of exemption in place of a COLA | Bottler only |
Applying, denial and appeal
Part 13 supplies the procedure. An application is filed on the prescribed form, electronically or on paper, and may be withdrawn. Where the application is denied, the applicant receives a notice of denial stating the reason, and the regulations provide for an appeal of a qualification or denial, a decision after that appeal, and a second appeal.
Incomplete applications and applications for labels that conflict with the mandatory or prohibited content rules are the usual denials. Because the certificate covers the artwork, the reason for denial is nearly always a specific element of the label rather than a judgment about the business, and the cure is a corrected label rather than an argument.
Allowable changes and losing a certificate
A certificate remains valid for labels bearing changes TTB has authorized, either on the face of the certificate or through published guidance. That mechanism allows routine adjustments without refiling, but it is limited: alterations to a mandatory statement, to the brand name, or to the class and type designation fall outside it and require a fresh application.
Part 13 also provides for revocation. The regulations distinguish revocation on notice, with a proposed revocation, a decision, and an appeal, from revocation by operation of law or regulation, which has its own notice and appeal track. The part addresses effective dates, the effect of revocation on product already labeled, and surrender of the certificate.
Two related requirements sit alongside the certificate. Where a formula was needed before production, it must be in place, a subject covered in formula approval and how a standard of identity constrains a name. And where product will move to consumers directly, the shipping requirements in the rules on interstate shipments to households apply in addition. The parallel discipline of labeling in a different regulated industry is described in the required content, format and change procedures for product labeling.
Points to carry away
- A certificate authorizes bottling or removal from customs custody with the labels it shows.
- The bottler applies for domestic product and the importer applies for imported product.
- Brand name, class or type designation, alcohol content, name and address and net contents are mandatory.
- Distilled spirits labels must place several mandatory items within the same field of vision.
- Certain changes may be made to an approved label without a new certificate.
- A certificate may be revoked, and the regulations supply notice and appeal steps.
Questions readers ask
Does every change to a label require a new certificate?
No. TTB publishes a set of changes that may be made to an approved label without applying again, and the certificate itself notes that labels bearing authorized changes remain covered. Typical permitted changes involve moving mandatory information without altering it, changing the size or arrangement of the label, and correcting spelling. Changes that alter a mandatory statement, the brand name, or the class and type designation are not in that category and require a new application. Relying on a guidance item without checking its current terms is a common source of trouble.
Who applies when product is imported?
The importer, and the importer must hold the appropriate basic permit. The certificate then authorizes removal of the bottled product from customs custody for introduction into commerce with the labels shown. Foreign producers cannot obtain a certificate directly, which means the label the producer designed abroad has to be reconciled with United States requirements by the party that will bring it in. Country of origin and importer name and address requirements apply in addition to the general mandatory statements.
What is a certificate of exemption from label approval?
It is a certificate issued on the same form authorizing the bottling of wine or distilled spirits on the condition that the product will under no circumstances be introduced, directly or indirectly, into interstate or foreign commerce. It exists for producers selling only within their own state. The condition is strict: shipping a single case across a state line, or selling to someone who will, defeats the exemption. Producers who later expand distribution must obtain full certificates before the product moves.
Sources
- eCFR — 27 CFR Part 13, Labeling ProceedingsApplication, denial, appeal, revocation and third-party comment on certificates.
- eCFR — 27 CFR 4.32, Mandatory Label Information for WineThe items required on the brand label and elsewhere on a wine container.
- eCFR — 27 CFR 5.63, Mandatory Label Information for Distilled SpiritsThe same field of vision requirement and the disclosures for ingredients and processes.
- eCFR — 27 CFR 7.22, Certificates of Label Approval for Malt BeveragesWhat a certificate authorizes and when a bottler must obtain one.
- eCFR — 27 CFR Part 16, Alcoholic Beverage Health Warning StatementThe separately mandated warning statement and its placement and type size rules.
- Cornell Legal Information Institute — 27 U.S.C. 205, Unfair Competition and Unlawful PracticesThe statutory labeling authority under which the certificate system operates.
Liberty Law Library is a publication, not a law firm. This article states general rules and cites its sources; it is not advice about any particular case, and the law differs by state and changes over time.
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