Page 11 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013

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TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
The industry is expected to know in April what regulatory fate the Food
and Drug Administration has in store for premium cigars. Here’s how
one legal counsel weighs in on the topic.
FDA Regulation Preparation
By Renee M. Covino
Calling all cigar retailers
and manufacturers! FDA
regulation may truly be upon
the industry.
In December, the Food and Drug
Administration announced that it
would issue a proposed rule this
April to extend oversight to currently
unregulated tobacco products,including
cigars. U.S. Rep. Bill Posey is expected
to reintroduce (in the 113th Congress)
legislation that would prevent the
agency from regulating “traditional
large and premium cigars,” according to
Bill Spann, CEO of the International
Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers
Association (IPCPR). Spann explained
that premium cigars are not desired
by, not marketed to, nor affordable by
underage youth.
The premium cigar industry’s
concern is that the FDA will make no
distinction between expensive premium
cigars and inexpensive small cigars, and
will regulate them similarly. Health
advocates and some Democratic
lawmakers are the ones pushing for
cigar regulation, citing that studies have
shown an increase in youth cigar use as
cigarette use declines. Concerns have
also been raised about the continued
availability of flavored cigars, while
flavored cigarettes have been banned.
Spann maintained that the FDA Nancyellen Keane,
Counsel at Troutman Sanders LLP