The Additive Free Alliance (AFA) has filed its defense against the Consejo Regulador del Tequila's (CRT) lawsuit, arguing the Mexican regulatory body lacks "exclusive and legitimate control" over tequila certification in the U.S.
The AFA, originally launched by Tequila Matchmaker in 2020, claims the CRT's lawsuit violates First Amendment commercial speech rights. The organization conducted independent laboratory testing on 15 tequilas from nine distilleries, allegedly discovering non-agave alcohol in products certified by CRT as "100% agave."
Central to the AFA's defense is Mexico's 2022 establishment of Certificación Mexicana, a competing evaluation entity that the AFA argues undermines CRT's exclusive certification claims. The AFA contends this development "renders CRT's federal trademark registration invalid."
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