With Congress back in business after the summer recess, they now have until Sept. 30th to pass the 2024 fiscal year budget. Although Congress could enact a short-term budget to keep the government open until negotiations are complete, it is not a certainty, and brewers should prepare for a possible shutdown of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) non-essential services such as label approvals, formula approvals and brewers’ notices.
The Brewers Association’s Katie Marisic, senior director of federal affairs posted in a blog post that if the government does shut down, there could also be longer-than-usual wait time after reopening, as a result of a larger than normal backlog of applications.
“Given the current uncertainty, breweries should submit any upcoming approval requests or applications as soon as possible to obtain approvals prior to a potential government shutdown, as well as avoid longer wait times on the other end of any shutdown,” Katie said in the post.
Although a shutdown is far from certain, brewers may want to be proactive by taking steps now to avoid a long wait if a shutdown does occur.