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TOBACCO BUSINESS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014
we’ll see something [in 2014].”
The problem is that the OMB
has no set timeframe to get back to
the FDA. But once it does and its
concerns are expressed, it will be an
issue of whether those concerns are
minor or major, and whether the rules
will have to be rewritten, according to
Augustus.
The hope is that the important
cigar issues brought forth by the
CAA and others—methodology, good
manufacturing practices, flavorings
and SKU introductions—will produce
a distinction in regulation, one that is
less harsh than those on cigarettes.
“They can’t treat us like cigarettes,”
Williamson stresses. “If they go by the
2007 date [new product SKUs that
were introduced before 2007 were
grandfathered in cigarette regulations],
that kills us in cigars because we will
have 10,000 new SKUs a year, which
is not the case with cigarettes. It may
be the same cigar name but it’s a little
thicker or shorter so it has a different
SKU. We can’t control the crops every
year,” he continues. “The rain, the
moisture content, what’s in the soil
that year—every year our products
change. Manufacturers try to get it
as close as possible to the year before,
but there are a lot of outside forces
we can’t control such as weather. The
2007 date is absolutely not fair to us.”
So what’s his wish on a fair date
for cigars? “Ideally, I’d like when the
rule takes effect—that would be the
date before which products could be
grandfathered,” he says.
commEntS from
thE rEtail gallEry
From the retail perspective, the cigar
industry is expecting FDA regulation
to remain as it is for cigarettes and
smokeless: adult-only facilities can
remain self-service and consumers can
come in to “touch and feel the freshness
of a cigar”andmake single sale purchases,
says Augustus.
However, while retail groups have met
with the FDA already,it will continue to be
important that the retail voice is heard—
perhapsevenmoreimportantaftertheruling
comes out and comments are requested,
he says. “That is the time for retailers
to make sure they submit their
comments on what their preferences are
and how their businesses can be
maintained.”
TB
“They can’t treat us like cigarettes.
If they go by the 2007 date [new product SKUs
that were introduced before 2007 were grandfathered
in cigarette regulations], that kills us in cigars
because we will have 10,000 new SKUs a year, which
is not the case with cigarettes.”
