IN THE WAKE of Internet "blackouts" protesting SOPA and PIPA (anti-piracy legislation currently before the U.S. Congress), a smaller, but no less passionate regulatory protest has been circulating among the world's bartenders this weekend: Legislation sitting before the Mexican government. NOM-186 as it is called, is designed to tighten naming and production of regionally delineated agave-based spirits like tequila, mezcal and bacanora. But opponents feel the regulations benefit large, established producers at the expense of niche and family producers, and were surreptitiously introduced.
"We agree that something has to be done about misleading agave spirits that are on the market," says David Suro-Piñera, president of Siembra Azul tequila, owner of Philadelphia's Los Catrines restaurant, and part of the force behind the Tequila Interchange Project (TIP), an interdisciplinary affiliation of academics, small producers and bartenders in Mexico and the U.S.. "But those offenders are industrial products, and have nothing to do with small producers in Oaxaca and elsewhere." Oaxaca, Mexico is a state closely associated with the production of mezcal, a spirit distilled from agave sugars, like tequila. Some 90% of mezcal is made by village- or family-based small enterprises, and crucial to south-central Mexican economic growth, according to Scorpion Mezcal's Douglas French.
Not unlike SOPA and PIPA, it appears that opponents of NOM-186 don't oppose the idea of increasing standardization and definition of Mexico's agave-based spirits and fermented products, but oppose the verbiage of the current proposed legislation. According to the Tequila Interchange Project's website, two initiatives sit before the Mexican legislature that "have direct, debilitating effects on a large portion of producers of agave distillates and possibly irrevocable effects on the agrobiodiversity of Mexico."
According to TIP, the first proposal, from the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) essentially tradmarks the word "agave" as a brand name for the exclusive use of producers in designated Appellations of Tequila (five states in Mexico, the primary one being Jalisco), Mezcal (several states in central and eastern Mexico, the primary one being Oaxaca) and Bacanora (restricted to the northwestern state of Sonora). In other words, despite the fact that naturalists, botanists, Wikipedia, the average spirits writer and others have used the name "agave" for a broad family of succulents in the Agavoideae family for hundreds, if not thousands of years, it would be legally protected and restricted when it comes to labeling distilled or fermented spirits.
The second proposal, NOM-186, from the Ministry of Economy, "further regulates specifications, proof methods and commercial information of alcoholic beverages produced with species of the genus agave."
According to Suro-Piñera, "parts of this new NOM will pretty much prohibit any opportunity for small producers to commercialize their product, or even make it. They will be prohibited from making 100% agave distilled spirits over 35% alcohol by volume. They could produce mixtos, but not 100% agave spirits." Mixtos are a blend of agave spirit (like tequila or mezcal) with a grain neutral spirit (essentially vodka) and are considered a lower end, inferior product.
According to Suro-Piñero and various bartenders moving the information and call for signatures through Facebook and Twitter, the legislation would have the most impact on small producers of mezcal, a category increasing in popularity in the U.S. "This legislation is deliberately designed to eliminate artisanal, traditional small producers," argues Suro-Piñero. "It's similar to legal pressure that was created against microbreweries. It makes it tough to grow consumer interest." Distillers outside approved growing areas, and who don't meet other requirements of the legislation, would be required to label their products with the terms "agavacea aguardiente" or "distilled agavacea," words that aren't yet in the public consciousness and TIN argues would provide consumers with limited information.
Though the Mexican government allows 60 days for public input and protests on proposed legislation (the initiatives were introduced in November), TIN and its supporters feel they were deceived, and have only had a few days to rally support in protest of the legislation. "In November, we found out their intention to register the word 'agave' for the exclusive use of tequila, mezcal and bacanoro," says Suro-Piñera. "We had a three-hour meeting with CNIT (a lobbying organization representing large tequila brands in Mexico, and one Suro-Piñero says was behind the wording in NOM-186). We focused all our attention on the agave word issue. We didn't know at the time they had also introduced the NOM-186 initiative." It was only after the Mexican intermediary branch came out with its report on the objections, Suro-Piñero says, that the TIN and its supporters learned of the second, regulatory initiative.
That gave them only a few days to react (the deadline was January 21 at 10pm EST), hence the global petition-signing movement organized through social media. "Professor Patricia Colunga-Garciamarin drafted the letter on Friday the 20th," says Suro-Piñero, "and by Saturday the 21st, we had signatures from over 1,000 bartenders all over the world: America, Germany, South Africa, France, Russia. It's wonderful and insane." In the U.S., leading industry names from New York, Boston and California signed the petition. In an open letter to fellow bartenders, Phil Ward, who helped launch New York mezcal mecca Mayahuel wrote, "if you read [NOM Regulation 186], you will see it is one of the most despicable proposed pieces of legislation I've ever seen."
Misty Kalkofen, a bartender at Boston's Drink bar (rated one of the best bars in the country by several publications last year) concurred. "In November, the board of TIP sat with the CNIT for a discussion regarding the branding of the word agave. From what we heard, and from further discussions with the academic memebers of TIP, we knew this was something we could not endorse."
Does the voice of an American bartender matter? "Big time," says Suro-Piñero. "I would say one signature from a bartender in the U.S. equals ten from bartenders in Mexico. The U.S. is the largest consumer of these spirits, particularly tequila. Germany is the third-largest. So yes, they really listen to the American consumer."
Emails have been sent by the author of this article to representatives of Jose Cuervo and Herradura, two of the largest tequila producers in Mexico, along with the CNIT for their takes on the legislation and the opposition. When they are available, this story will be updated to reflect their positions.
As for Suro-Piñero, he says TIN and smaller producers not represented by the CNIT (Camara Nacional Industria Tequilera) would like the opportunity for input on more carefully worded future legislation, should NOM-186 be tabled or defeated. "we want to have a creative dialogue to help us find solutions to everything. We're as concerned about some of these very cheap spirits on the market damaging the reputation and quality of tequila, mezcal and bacanara as anyone else."
The Tequila Interchange Project's reaction to NOM-186 and its petition can be found at its website, tequilainterchangeproject.com.
___________________________________________
Thirsty for more? Check out National Spirits Examiner or NY Drinks Examiner.
Do you have a cocktail trend, new product bar or teahouse you'd like me to review? Want to give me a heads-up on your favorite hot spot? Please email me at NYDrinksExaminer AT gmail.com. Or follow me on Twitter @roberthp.
FTC Disclaimer: The author sometimes receives product samples for review, which carry no cash value and cannot be re-sold, and sometimes attends press events such as lunches or cocktail parties, designed to promote a given product. The author is not paid by any alcohol manufacturer, retailer or distributor, or provided compensation apart from revenue from an assigning publishing company for editorial publication. Opinions are the author's own. By the way, you should be 21 or older to read this page.
Comments