TRC’s International Affairs Department is in charge of protecting the Tequila Designation of Origin in the entire world. Its work is undertaken jointly with the Mexican Government and in coordination with the TRC’s four Representative Offices located abroad, in the United States, Geneva, Madrid and Shanghai (Email addresses/addresses of the TRC’s international offices).
This work undertaken to protect the Tequila designation includes the following strategies, among several others:
Monitoring points of sale: Points of sale are monitored jointly with tequila distributors in each country and with the Mexican Government’s Representative Offices abroad; the goal is that only certified and thus tequila is sold in such countries: In the event that products which are not authentic tequila are being sold, a formal complaint is submitted to local authorities in order for such products to be withdrawn from sale.
Registration of the Tequila Designation of Origin in different countries: the TRC promotes the protection of Tequila through registration of the Tequila Designation of Origin before all intellectual property agencies in different countries in order to obtain an intellectual property rights’ title that is valid within a given territory which will allow reporting any cases of false products found in such country (International Protection of tequila).
Standards Harmonization: The TRC serves as a technical support agency for the Mexican Government with respect to harmonizing other countries’ standards parameters to the parameters of the Mexican Official Tequila Standard (NORMA Oficial Mexicana NOM-006-SCFI-2012, Alcoholic beverages-Tequila-Specifications) and thus, impede non-tariff barriers against Tequila.
Surveillance of Tequila bottled abroad. The TRC verifies the traceability of the Tequila received by bottlers authorized by the Mexican Government and located outside the country. This is undertaken through inspection visits, document review, delivery of quarterly bottling reports and lab testing. It is important to point out that only the Tequila category (and not the Tequila 100% Agave category) can be bottled outside the Tequila Designation of Origin zone.
Fostering the Tequila Culture: International offices undertake efforts to raise awareness and provide information on the culture of tequila, including providing information on the standards related to tequila, its history, product classification, Tequila tasting and sampling methods, by means of offering T Brand Identification courses (Distintivo T, www.distintivot.org.mx) to Tequila marketers and distributors.
ANONYMOUS COMPLAINTS: If you become aware of a product which is marketed as Tequila and you suspect it is not authentic, believe that such product harms the image of Tequila or simply is not made in Mexico, we ask you to send your comments (claims and complaints regarding alcoholic beverages) to the Tequila Regulatory Council.
Your complaint shall remain anonymous and we can tell you how to help us in the event that we require more information to be able to take such product off the market. .
Your support is essential to protect the Tequila Designation of Origin around the World!