[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6000 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6000

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify rules relating to 
    the taxation of mead and other agricultural wine, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 13, 2016

 Mr. Sanford introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify rules relating to 
    the taxation of mead and other agricultural wine, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mead Equality And Definition Act of 
2016'' or the ``MEAD Act''.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF LIMITATIONS RELATING TO USE OF SPIRITS, FRUITS, 
              HERBS, ETC.

    (a) In General.--Section 5387 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by striking subsection (b) and by redesignating subsection 
(c) as subsection (b).
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall modify 
subpart I of part 24 of subchapter A of chapter 1 of title 27, Code of 
Federal Regulations as follows:
            (1) Allow the use of spirits in the production of 
        agricultural wine in a manner similar to the use of spirits in 
        the production of natural wine.
            (2) Eliminate any limitation on the quantity of hops used 
        in the production of mead.
            (3) Allow, in the production of mead, the addition of 
        wholesome fruits (including fruit juices, fruit puree, fruit 
        extract, or fruit concentrate), vegetables, spices, and other 
        ingredients suitable for human food consumption that are 
        generally recognized as safe for use in an alcoholic beverage, 
        but only to the extent the addition thereof contributes to less 
        than 50 percent of the total Brix of the mead.
            (4) Allow, in the production mead, the density of the honey 
        and water mixture to be below 13 degrees Brix in the case of an 
        addition described in paragraph (3), but only to the extent the 
        resulting mixture is not less than 13 degrees Brix.
            (5) Provide that after complete fermentation mead may not 
        have an alcohol content of more than 24 percent by volume.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to revoke, prescribe, or limit any other exemptions from the 
requirements under subpart I of part 24 of subchapter A of chapter I of 
title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, for any ingredient that has been 
recognized before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act 
as a traditional ingredient in the production of fermented beverages.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of the this Act.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF FORMULA REQUIREMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL WINE.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Treasury shall modify subpart I of part 24 of 
subchapter A of chapter 1 of title 27, Code of Federal Regulations to 
allow, for research and development purposes (including consumer taste 
testing), production of agricultural wine without an approved formula, 
but only to the extent such wine is not marketed or sold prior to 
approval of its formula.

SEC. 4. RATE OF TAXATION FOR MEAD.

    (a) In General.--Section 5041(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5), by 
striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting ``; 
and'', and by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(7) On meads containing not more than 0.64 grams of 
        carbon dioxide per hundred millimeters of mead, at 22.6 cents 
        per gallon (except that the Secretary may by regulations 
        prescribe such tolerances to this limitation as may be 
        reasonably necessary in good commercial practice).''.
    (b) Credit for Small Producers.--Section 5041(c) of such Code is 
amended by inserting ``or (b)(7)'' after ``(b)(6)''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to mead removed during calendar years beginning after December 
31, 2016.
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