ATF Settles Labeling Case Against Chambers & Chambers

San Francisco, CA - John A. Torres, Division Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), San Francisco Field Division, announced today that ATF accepted an Offer In Compromise submitted by Chambers & Chambers, Inc. in the amount of $35,000 to settle labeling violations.

The labeling violations were disclosed as a result of an ATF investigation initiated after a complaint. In 1998, ATF received information that Chambers and Chambers, Inc., a San Francisco based wine wholesaler and importer with operations in Hawaii, illegally relabeled wine to meet a particular demand in the Hawaii market.

Subsequent ATF investigation confirmed that during the period October, 1997 through February, 1998, Chambers and Chambers, Inc. violated Federal law and regulations by removing wine labels and replacing them with a different label. They also received a shipment of unlabeled wine and falsely labeled that wine.

Division Director Torres said "We look at any complaint that involves potential consumer deception through labeling. While the market impact of these violations was limited, false labeling of any wine is a significant violation, and we take corrective action."

Acceptance of this Offer In Compromise effectively closes this matter.