Federal Alcohol Administration

The Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA) was established in 1936 to administer federal liquor regulations. It replaced the Federal Alcohol Control Administration (FACA). The FACA was created by Franklin Roosevelt by executive order on December 4, 1933, one day before the 18th amendment was repealed. It was created to approve codes of fair competition in the industry, but also to prevent the social and political problems that plagued the industry before Prohibition. It had six codes – the Distillers’ Code, the Wine Code, the Rectifiers Code, the Wholesale Liquor Dealers’ Code, the Brewers’ Code and the Importers’ Marketing Agreement. One of the most important regulations was a regulation against brewers owning retail outlets. Standards of identity were established and classifications were drawn up going beyond what was established in 1909 with the Taft Decision. The Supreme Court invalidated the FACA in 1935 and that led to the creation of the FAA.

The FAA spelled out what was started with the Taft Decision, setting out regulations on the creation of different types of whiskey. They created straight whiskey, straight Bourbon, blended whiskey and blended rye categories, defining how each was to be made. In 1940 it was replaced by the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Department of Treasury. In 1952 it became the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division. In 1972 it became the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division. In 1972 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF). The BATF is responsible for public protection, trade practices, revenue collection, and enforcing federal laws and regulations.

In 2002, after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, The Homeland Security Act transferred the BATF from the Treasury to the Department of Justice and changed the name to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but the change did not alter its mission. In 2003 it became the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

This bureau is still responsible for the definition and regulation of whiskey. The definition of Bourbon as we know it today can be traced back to 1936 and the creation of the FAA. The exceptions are that in 1938 a regulation was added that stated that straight whiskey had to be aged in new cooperage and that in Congress in1964 made Bourbon a product of the United States.