Vancouver distiller surprised by FDA fee

Vancouver’s Quartz Mountain Distillers was surprised Wednesday by a $14,060 fee from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for producing hand sanitizer, but the company found out Thursday evening that the fee is not being enforced.

All distillers that made hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic were facing the fine.

Owner Randy Kyle said the distillery began making hand sanitizer in April. The family owners gave almost all of it away to help local health care workers remain safe.

The Department of Health & Human Services on Thursday announced it was directing the FDA not to enforce the fee after the FDA received heavy backlash on social media.

“Small businesses who stepped up to fight COVID-19 should be applauded by their government not taxed for doing so,” the Department of Health & Human Services stated on Twitter.

Kyle said he was unaware of any fee from the beginning of the pandemic.

If the company was forced to pay it, he would have to close the company.

“I’d just have to lock the door and walk away,” he said.

Quartz Mountain Distillers, at 4601 N.E. 78th St., was about to begin distilling vodka in March when the pandemic hit, and it began producing hand sanitizer instead.

By April, the company had made over 800 bottles of sanitizer.

This story was updated to accurately reflect that Kyle was facing a fee, not a fine.