Tequila is the most regulated consumer product labeled in Mexico. Before a bottle reaches the shelf, its label must comply with NOM-006-SCFI to the millimeter and carry the labeling report issued by the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT). A premium label that doesn't comply isn't premium: it's held goods, a lost selling season and an awkward conversation with your distributor.
ETIVAL prints labels for tequila and agave spirits with the artwork reviewed against NOM-006 as part of the brief analysis, premium in-line finishes (, embossing, laminates) and ISO 9001:2015 per-batch traceability — so the report arrives and the launch doesn't move a single day.
- NOM-006
- The standard governing tequila specifications and commercial information
- CRT
- Tequila Regulatory Council: issues the labeling report
- 51% / 100%
- Minimum agave for tequila; «100% de agave» is bottled in Mexico
- $781,920
- Maximum fine per commercial-information NOM infringement (MXN)
The mandatory NOM-006 data
The standard requires the tequila label to declare, unambiguously and in the correct zones of the bottle:
- 01The word «Tequila» and the maturation category: Blanco, Joven or Oro, Reposado, Añejo or Extra Añejo.
- 02The agave percentage: «100% de agave» when it applies (and then bottling happens in Mexico) — mixed tequila declares its minimum blue agave content (51%).
- 03The producer's key: the «NOM» abbreviation followed by the bottler's official number.
- 04Name or legal entity and producer data: whoever answers for the bottle before the consumer and the authority.
- 05Net content in General System units (liters or milliliters) and alcohol by volume (% Alc. Vol.).
- 06Batch number: bottling traceability — printed directly or with a reserved overprint zone.
- 07The health warning and country of origin («Hecho en México» / product of Mexico).
The most expensive mistake isn't omitting a data point: it's designing it badly. A «100% de agave» in decorative type that's hard to read, or a batch with no reserved zone, turns an award-winning design into a returned report.
The health warning: uppercase, unabbreviated, unadorned
The General Health Law warning for alcoholic beverages —«EL ABUSO EN EL CONSUMO DE ESTE PRODUCTO ES NOCIVO PARA LA SALUD» («excessive consumption of this product is harmful to health»)— goes on the tequila label in capitals, legible, indelible and unabbreviated, with the minimum size and contrast that pre-packaged alcoholic beverage regulation demands. It is not a design element: it's a requirement with its own geometry. Redesigns that shrink it into a typographic ornament or bury it on the back fail verification.
The CRT labeling report
The Tequila Regulatory Council verifies the label project against the standard and issues the compliance report: without it there is no authorization to produce and commercialize. The correct flow —artwork → technical review → report → print run— doesn't delay the launch when the art arrives well prepared; it delays it when the printer receives a PDF «already approved» that nobody checked against the health warning's geometry or the mandatory information zones.
The practical rule: the supplier that will print your label must review the artwork against NOM-006 before burning plates. Printing without that review is printing risk.
Premium design that actually converts on the shelf
Tequila competes on perception: the buyer decides in seconds whether the bottle «looks expensive». The finishes that move that perception —without paying for engraved metal— are the natural territory of in-line flexographic printing:
Premium finishes for tequila: shelf effect and relative cost
Cold foil vs. hot stamping for wine, spirits and cosmetics — without engraved-metal tooling costs.
Quote in under 24 h with the NOM-006 artwork review included.
ETIVAL Editorial Team
We manufacture for all of Mexico · ISO 9001:2015
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