WEEDSPORT -- New York's wineries say the federal government is putting a cork in their business by taking too long to approve new labels for wine bottles.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D, New York) is speaking out about the issue at Giancarelli Brothers' Winery in Weedsport today. He'll also be at a winery in Penn Yan.
Schumer wants the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to clear a bureaucratic logjam and speed up the labeling approval process. Some of New York's 300-plus wineries complain that getting approval for new labels is sometimes taking months instead of days.
Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, says label approvals have "slowed a great deal because of staff cutbacks" at the agency.
Wineries cannot sell their wine until the labels are sanctioned.
Schumer says the approvals can be sped up by streamlining the process for submitting certain types of labels and having the bureau clearly identify all of the issues that need to be addressed on the first rejection of approval letters.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.
