ALFD Newsletter October 2007

What Does it Mean?

We receive regular inquiries about Serial Numbers on COLAs. A Serial Number is a unique identification number assigned by the COLA holder to identify your certificates. The first two digits, which are automatically assigned by COLAs Online, represent the calendar year in which the application was submitted. You (the applicant) supply the remainder of the Serial Number, which may be a combination of letters and numbers but may not exceed four characters in length. You may choose any numbering system that works for you or your company. While TTB relies mainly upon the TTB ID number to identify COLAs, the Serial Number is an additional way to track applications and approvals.

Greetings!

Welcome to the October edition of COLAs Online eNews! We are very excited that after just a few short months we already have more than 950 subscribers to this publication! A few other impressive numbers: during the past 12 months TTB received more than 125,000 applications for label approval, and 51 percent were eApps. That is a 13 percent increase of eApps over last year. We have more than 5,700 registered users of COLAs Online and that number continues to grow every month. We hope to see every registered user subscribed to COLAs Online eNews!

You Aren't the Only One Who Asked Us...

Generally “Approved” Certificates of Label Approval never expire and may be used indefinitely, but under certain limited conditions COLAs are given “temporary approval” with an expiration (or termination) date. The status of an “Approved” COLA changes to “Expired” when the expiration date is reached. Expired COLAs may NOT be used to bottle or remove product from U.S. Customs custody.

If a COLA is given an expiration date, it also has qualification(s) on the certificate that outline the reasons why it was given an expiration date. If the COLA holder still needs an approved COLA to bottle or remove product from Customs custody after the expiration date, he or she must obtain a new COLA and correct the qualification(s) that appear on the expiring COLA.

TTB will often issue a COLA with an expiration date when a label contains a minor error that does not warrant rejecting it or returning the application for correction or when the applicant has supplied adequate information regarding extenuating circumstances about why the label does not comply with regulations (commonly referred to as a “use-up”). This “temporary approval” gives the COLA holder a period of time to correct irregularities on the label while being able to bottle and remove product in the interim.

Tip of the Month

Don’t confuse height

and width

when you enter your label dimensions in
Step 3.

Recall from a previous edition of COLAs Online eNews that we told you that when TTB reviews the labels you submit with an eApp, the label specialist views a version of your label that COLAs Online has automatically rendered to reflect the actual size of the label according to the dimensions you supply in Step 3. This is a very important step that allows the label specialist to review the mandatory label information for legibility and type size requirements.

Imagine a typical label that is 5 inches wide and 3 inches high. Imagine how it would appear if you reversed those dimensions in Step 3 and COLAs Online rendered a version of this same label that is 3 inches wide and 5 inches high! It is usually immediately apparent to the label specialists when you make this mistake and the eApp will be returned to you for correction requesting that you enter the correct label dimensions. Remember, crop out all white space or extraneous text around your label images and please supply the correct dimensions for how the label will appear on the container.

FYI, in a future release of COLAs Online, when we return an eApp to you for correction, you will be able to view the same rendered version of the labels that the label specialist views so you can see for yourself exactly what TTB sees. More on this in a future edition…

How do I...

A single registered user of COLAs Online may file or review eApps on behalf of a number of basic permits. These permits may be held by the same company (e.g., a domestic bonded winery may also hold an importer’s permit) or by different companies (e.g., non-permittee third-parties or industry reps may submit or review eApps on behalf of many different industry members).
In order to add additional permits to your user profile you must complete and submit TTB Form 5013.2, COLAs Online Access Request. Please follow all the instructions on the back of the form, but in particular, in Section A, please check

Modify User in item 1, and then supply your current user ID in item 2.

In Section C of the form you must supply the required information about the company or companies for which you are requesting to submit or review eApps. If you wish to add multiple Registry/Permit/Brewer's Notice Numbers, you may include a list of them on a separate sheet attached to the form. Any person requesting to submit eApps (and not just prepare/review them) must either have signature authority or power of attorney for each company for which they will be submitting label applications. Preparer/Reviewers do NOT need signature authority or power of attorney.

Submit completed forms to:
Advertising, Labeling and Formulation Division
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
1310 G Street, NW. Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20220

The process to update your COLAs Online account will take approximately 20 days from the time we receive your completed request in our office. We will send you an e-mail once your account has been updated. Your user name and password will not change as a result of this modification.