Newly Formed Tax Audit Division And New Division Chief
By Victoria McDowell/Joette Brown (202)927-5000

Victoria McDowell is the Division Chief for the new Tax Audit Division. The duties of the division include conducting audits of taxpayers that pay over $250,000 annually. The division will include up to ten field offices nation-wide. Ms. McDowell

joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in July 1998, as the Assistant Financial Manager, Accounting Policy and Reporting Branch in the Financial Management Division. Her duties included managing the annual Chief Financial Officer's audit of the Bureau. Under her leadership, the Bureau achieved unqualified audit opinions. Prior to joining ATF, Vicky worked for the Financial Management Service (FMS), also in the Treasury Department, where she held the positions of Credit Administration Division Director, Director of the Asset Management Directorate, and Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Debt Management Services. Each of those positions dealt with setting government-wide policies in financial areas. Also while at FMS, Ms. McDowell developed an international financial management training program for developing countries. Ms. McDowell was instrumental in developing an internship program for Russian financial managers and a training program for the State Tax Service of the Russian Federation. She also worked with the Canadian Government and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France. Ms. McDowell is a Certified Government Financial Manager and member of the Association of Government Accountants. She has 22 years of Federal Government experience. She began her Federal career with the Agriculture Department where she

developed and implemented an internal control program for an agency that held a sixty billion dollar credit portfolio.

For several years, Ms. McDowell served as the Chair of the Supervisory Committee of the Treasury Department Federal Credit Union, where she supervised the internal audit function and the annual financial statement audit of the credit union. She was also on the Board of Directors.

Welcome aboard!

Alcohol Labeling Corner

Organic Labeling

By Rick Evanchec (202)927-8140

The Alcohol Labeling and Formulation Division (ALFD) would like to remind you of the approaching deadline that affects all labels that make organic references. The labeling requirements under the National Organic Program (NOP) will take effect on October 21, 2002. All products bottled on or after this date that make an organic claim must be labeled to satisfy the regulations under this program (7 CFR Part 205). The most obvious change associated with the NOP is that all alcohol beverages bearing an organic claim will be required to include a complete ingredient statement on the label. In addition, Federally accredited agents must certify procedures and handlers who wish to make organic claims. Current labels that do not satisfy these and other requirements under the NOP will be revoked by operation of regulation as of October 21, 2002.

The NOP is administered by the Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS), a division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The requirements under the NOP were created to implement the Organic Food Production Act of 1990. This law was passed to set a national standard for the production and marketing of organically produced products, including beverage alcohol.

In the future when ATF receives label applications that contain organic references, ATF will review the labels for compliance with the Federal Alcohol Administration Act.