Page 29 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013
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TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
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AEMSA
American E-Liquid
Manufacturing Standards
Association
877-68-AEMSA
Contact: Lou Ritter, president,
Organization Overview/Mission:
“AEMSA is completely dedicated to
creating responsible and sustainable
standards for the safe manufacturing
of e-liquids used in electronic
cigarettes. AEMSA is an all-volunteer
organization, formed by American
manufacturers of e-liquids, to promote
safety and responsibility through self-
regulation.”
“As a community andan emerging industry,
we have a choice: to stand by and watch
disinformation and fear continuously be
disseminated to the public at large, or we
can come together and create a structure
to educate, inform and facilitate.”
—Linc Williams, secretary AEMSA
SFATA
The Smoke-Free Alternatives
Trade Association
c/o CT Corporate System
1015 15th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
218-22-SFATA
Contact: Christopher Venis,
executive director,
Organization Overview/Mission:
“SFATA is dedicated to the survival of
the electronic cigarette industry, free
of agenda or bias. SFATA promotes
the interests of the entire industry—
online retailers, brick and mortar
vendors, distributors, wholesalers and
consumers.”
TVECA
The Tobacco Vapor Electronic
Cigarette Association
1005 Union Center Dr. Suite F
Alpharetta, GA 30004
888-99-TVECA
Contact: Ray Story, CEO,
Organization Overview/Mission:
The TVECA has been established
to provide the scientific facts behind
a new technology that has garnered
tremendous disinformation. Now with
over 3.5 million Americans using the
e-cig and over 21 scientific studies of
e-cig constituencies, it is our mission to
disseminate the facts and truths about
a new technology that smokers are
actually using daily and health advocacy
groups are aligned against.
E-Resources
Behind every good industry are some solid industry associations—and e-cigs are no exception to
that. Here are the top associations currently backing the electronic cigarette market—keeping it
on top of industry news, regulatory developments and proposed standards.
“Our short-term goal is to get the
FDA and other regulatory agencies to
recognize there is some self-regulation
out there, to get a conversation going
with them,” says Williams.
Longer term, the pair (who both have
completely quit cigarettes thanks to
e-cigs) would love to see the association
grow into a coalition powerhouse
that addresses key industry issues and
facilitates the sharing of information
to make the industry the best it can
be. Already, competitors are sharing
dialogue through the association’s
standards goal.
“This is a wonderful first step—but
we want to take it much further and
are willing to work with anyone in the
industry that wants to work in this
direction,” says Ritter. “We would be
happy to work with the FDA to try and
facilitate better standards and education.
We know that the industry is growing
in a way that’s never been seen—the
adoption rate of e-cigs is just monstrous.”
THE FDA CHALLENGE
The
greatest
challenge
for
e-cigarettes is government regulation.
Industry insiders expect the FDA
