30
TOBACCO BUSINESS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014
on behalf of the industry—five with
the FDA and two with the OMB,
according toWilliamson. Representing
cigars of all shapes and sizes (along
with pipe tobacco), the CAA recently
educated the government about cigars
“from soup to nuts, or actually, from
field to shelf; from when the product
is first put in the ground, what the
seed is like, through growth, and then
from manufacturer to consumer,”
Williamson explains.
One of the biggest themes brought
forward by the CAA is how cigars
differ greatly from their cigarette
counterparts. “We explained from
the premium side how different
the manufacturing process is from
cigarettes,” says Williamson. “Basically,
cigarettes are automated, [whereas]
premium cigars are very labor-intense.
Some of our machinery is very old,
and we have a lot of hand-rollers, too.”
While this might seem obvious to
industry members, it is apparently not
obvious to legislators and government
regulators.
Another talking point from the
cigar industry to the government has
been how different cigars are within
the industry itself. Here, there has
been cigar input from manufacturers,
including from machine-made and
little cigar makers such as Swisher.
“Cigars come in so many different
shapes and sizes, and one-size-fits-all
regulation that applies to cigarettes
and smokeless products won’t work for
the cigar industry,” says Joe Augustus,
senior vice president of global affairs
for Swisher. He is encouraged since
“the FDA has been very receptive
to our meetings,” but acknowledges
“whether they accept our premise or
not, we will see when regulations come
out.”
“all or nothing”
lEgiSlation?
But while Williamson supports
internal
cigar
distinction—
and
appropriate
corresponding
legislation—Swisher’s Augustus does
not support one side being exempt
entirely from regulation. “There are
those in the premium cigar industry
that feel they should not be regulated;
we disagree,” he emphasizes. “We
think it should be all regulated or
none regulated. We agree that the
“There are those in the premium cigar industry
that feel they should not be regulated; we disagree.
We think it should be all regulated or none regulated.”
