Just when it seemed like TTB labels and formulas would be slow, and get slower every year — all of a sudden things look pretty fast. The above table shows that normal formulas take two weeks or less. It’s been a really long time since the processing times have been less than a month. This is a huge benefit for producers everywhere. Over on the label side, things are also getting better. This scary looking table shows that beer, wine and spirits labels were flirting with 40 and more days of processing time, toward late 2014, until the trends started to improve (things got particularly ugly here).
As of today, TTB says the processing time for labels is right around 21 days.
I reached out to TTB to see why things seem so much better. TTB said:
Although workloads have continued to increase since FY 2015, we have recently been able to improve our processing times in part through cross-training and because new staff hired last year are reaching full proficiency. However, the improvements you are seeing right now are also due in large part to increased use of overtime and the temporary reassignment of staff from other mission areas, which are short term fixes until we are able to fully implement the long term solutions (such as additional personnel and IT improvements) made possible by the additional funding we received for FY 2016.
There are already millions of labels approved in the past 20 years or so, and this should be great news for everyone who wants just a few more choices.
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