MONTGOMERY CO., Va. – The government shutdown is now in its second week, putting pressure on small businesses that rely on federal approvals to get their products on shelves.
At Beliveau Farm Winery in Montgomery County, every label on every bottle needs federal approval before it can be sold. But right now, that process is frozen.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has suspended most of its operations since the government shut down on October 1. About 398 non-exempt TTB employees were sent home without pay, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury. That means new label and formula applications are sitting untouched.
Winery owner, Yvan Beliveau, has been making wine since 2011, but now has to wait to roll out his new blends.
“It’s not very good timing,” Beliveau said. “My primary concern is that we are unable to sell a couple of wines or actually three wines that we were about to introduce.”
Beliveau says if the shutdown continues, it could mean lost sales during one of their busiest seasons — fall festivals and holiday prep.
It’s not just wineries feeling the impact. Breweries and cider makers who need TTB label approvals are also stuck waiting and even when the shutdown ends, the backlog won’t.
The last government shutdown in 2018 lasted 35 days, and it took the TTB months afterward to clear the backlog of pending applications that doubled in size. The agency is still accepting online submissions, but they will not be processed until government funding is restored. According to the TTB, wineries must also continue to file and pay federal excise taxes by the usual deadlines during the shutdown.
“The government shutdown isn’t what I think is a good idea,” Beliveau said. “It has never been a good idea. Anytime it’s ever happened in the past, it’s always turned out badly. I would hope that they could resolve this shortly.”