The Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has announced a 30-day extension of the comment period for the proposed rule.
Some much needed relief has come to the cigar industry today. While this is not a permanent solution and does not fix everything in cigar regulation, it is a major step. U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia Amit P. Mehta ruled that he would be placing substantial equivalence regulations on hold indefinitely.
IPCPR has launched a new grassroots website, cigaraction.org. This site is a resource for retailers and consumers to get involved with public policy issues that affect premium cigars. This launch coincides with their first grassroots campaign urging Congress to support a premium cigar exemption provision in the annual spending bill. Over time, this site will serve as the center of IPCPR’s grassroots effort with the cigar community for multiple federal and state initiatives.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday decided to choose Option 1 of the two proposed regulations on tobacco products, option 2 would have granted an exemption for premium cigars. Today, the FDA banned sales of e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and hookah tobacco to people under age 18, in line with cigarette rules, a move aimed at preventing a new generation from becoming addicted to nicotine. The agency said it also will require companies to submit these products to it for regulatory review, provide it with a list of product ingredients and place health warnings on their product packages and in advertisements.
Bill That Would Have Ended Tax-Free Internet Cigar Sales Stalled Source: Cigar Aficionado Andrew Nagy Posted: November 7, 2013 Cigar...
Today President Trump announced Dr. Scott Gottlieb as his pick to lead the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Gottlieb has an impressive and extensive resume, with a wide-ranging background in both the private and public sectors and a M.D. from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. IPCPR welcomes the pick of Dr. Gottlieb and, If confirmed, we look forward to working with him as we continue to advocate for common-sense reforms to the recent FDA regulation needlessly harming the family owned small businesses retailers that make up IPCPR.
Earlier today, D.C. District Court Judge Amit Mehta issued an injunction prohibiting the U.S. Food & Drug Administration from enforcing its warning label requirements on cigars and pipe tobacco. The warning label requirements for packaging and advertising were slated to go into effect on August 10th. Judge Mehta’s order delays any enforcement of the requirement until at least 60 days after the conclusion of an appeal currently underway. No date has been set for a court to hear the appeal.
Today, Facebook and Instagram are implementing new policies relating to alcohol, tobacco and e-cigarettes. This new policy completely bans private sales, trades, transfers and gifting of these products. We are interpreting this as meaning that we will no longer be able to run contests for cigars.
Congressmen Send Letter to Vice President Pence on Regulation of Premium Cigars
On behalf of the premium cigar industry as well as main street retailers and American consumers, Congressman Bill Posey (R-Florida), Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-California) and Congressman Lou Barletta (R-Pennsylvania) sent a letter to Vice President Pence urging the new administration to swiftly suspend enforcement of the FDA’s recently enacted deeming rule. The rule, which went into effect on August 8, 2016 has imposed harsh new regulations on premium cigar retailers, manufacturers and thousands of small businesses across the country. Despite the original congressional intent, the FDA’s imposition of regulations on premium cigars penalizes an industry where youth access to smoking is a non-issue.