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TTB NEWSLETTER | Weekly News

July 30, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

Greetings! This week we’re highlighting a Treasury request for information on the current market structure and competition in the U.S. beer, wine, and spirits markets, the appointment of Greg Greeley as TTB’s Deputy CIO, tips for getting answers to your labeling, formula, permits, and tax questions while we’re upgrading our call center software, and 2 auditor job openings.

SEEKING PUBLIC INPUT ON PROMOTING COMPETITION IN THE BEER, WINE, AND SPIRITS MARKETS

In response to a recent Executive Order on promoting competition in the American market, the Treasury Department has issued a request for information to solicit comments about the current market structure and competition in the U.S. beer, wine, and spirits markets.

Among other things, the Executive Order requires the Treasury Department, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, to submit a report “assessing the current market structure and conditions of competition [for beer, wine, and spirits], including an assessment of any threats to competition and barriers to new entrants.”  The report is to include discussion of unlawful trade practices; patterns of consolidation in production, distribution, or retail markets; and “any unnecessary trade practice regulations of matters such as bottle sizes, permitting, or labeling that may unnecessarily inhibit competition.”

To inform these efforts, the Treasury Department is seeking comments on these topics from participants in the beer, wine, and spirits markets, consumer groups, public interest groups, and interested private parties.

You may view the Request for Information (Notice No. 204) and Executive Order 14036, Promoting Competition in the American Economy, at Regulations.gov within Docket No. TTB–2021–0007.  Please submit comments electronically using the comment form for Notice 204 posted within that docket.  Comment are due no later than August 18, 2021, to ensure full consideration.

GREG GREELEY APPOINTED DEPUTY CIO

We are pleased to announce that Greg Greeley has been appointed to the new position of Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Information Resources/Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Mr. Greeley joined TTB in 2015 as the Assistant CIO for Software Development after many years of supporting TTB as a contractor. Mr. Greeley started his affiliation with us when he worked as a contractor for our predecessor, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, where he built the bureau’s first online application, COLAs Online, in 2002.  Mr. Greeley worked for a variety of firms in the technology and finance sectors before returning to TTB in 2008 as the Deputy Program Manager on our major Information Technology Services contract.

Mr. Greeley received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Computer Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a Certificate in Organizational Development and Change Management from Georgetown University.

CALL CENTER SYSTEM UPGRADE

Our planned system upgrade is taking a bit longer than we hoped, so you may still experience temporary delays when attempting to reach call center staff in the Alcohol Labeling and Formulation Division and at the National Revenue Center.

Here are some tips:

• You can contact us online instead of calling:   
• Alcohol Beverage Labels or Formulas
• Permits/Taxes/Claims/Reports
• Request Alternative Tax Payment Arrangements
• If your request isn’t urgent, leave us a message instead of waiting on hold, and we’ll get back to you, usually within 2 to 3 business days.
• You can check the status of your TTB application by logging into the applicable system at any time of day. If the status is “received” or “review in progress” chances are we haven’t started working on it yet, and our call center staff won’t have any additional details to share with you.  Once a specialist begins reviewing your application it won’t be long before you hear from us.
• Speaking of applications, check our TTB Application Processing Times pages to get an idea of how long the current wait time is for each application type.
• Avoid getting locked out of your Permits Online account by changing your password  before it expires.  Government IT security protocols mandate that passwords expire every 60 days and your account will be locked if you don’t change your password in time.
• You can also try searching our web site, www.TTB.gov, for the answers to your questions.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Improving service times is a priority for us and this software upgrade is an important step towards providing additional customer interaction tools in the future.

TTB CAREER OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for candidates to fill auditor positions in Boston, Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire. Among other things, TTB auditors conduct excise tax audits of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and ammunition industry members.

For more details about this opportunity, view the vacancy announcement: 21-TTB-72-P

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