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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
NEWS & TRENDS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
Legislative efforts following a two-
year joint campaign that began with
the refiling of H.R. 792 and S. 772
have culminated in a message from
the U.S. Congress to the FDA that pre-
mium cigars should not be regulated.
This effort, first addressed by the
House of Representatives Appropria-
tions Committee last spring when
FDA Commissioner Margaret Ham-
burg was questioned about the issue,
evolved into the inclusion of language
in the committee’s funding report for
FDA. The year-end marathon session
of the U.S. House of Representatives
and U.S. Senate that resulted in the
“Cromnibus” budget package ended
with the retention of language that
specifically focused on the regulation
of premium cigars, reports the Cigar
Rights of America (CRA), which stated
that the language is as follows:
“Regulations: The Committee is en-
couraged that FDA has provided op-
tions for a way forward on distinguish-
ing between premium cigars and other
tobacco products in its recently pro-
posed rule
‘Deeming Tobacco Prod-
ucts To Be Subject to the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as Amended
by the Family Smoking Prevention and
Tobacco Control Act; Regulations on
the Sale and Distribution of Tobacco
Products and Required Warning State-
ments for Tobacco Products’
(Docket
No. FDA-2014-N-0189). In particular,
the Committee notes that FDA is con-
sidering excluding premium cigars
from the scope of this proposed rule
through Option 2. The Committee be-
lieves this could be a viable solution,
given that the Family Smoking Preven-
tion and Tobacco Control Act makes
little mention of cigars throughout
the legislation, and there is even less
evidence that Congress intended to fo-
cus on the unique subset of premium
cigars. The Committee notes that pre-
mium cigars are shown to be distinct
from other tobacco products in their
effects on youth initiation, the frequen-
cy of their use by youth and young
adults, and other such behavioral and
economic factors.”
Premium cigar industry veterans
expressed the hope that the report
language is an expression of the true
congressional intent not to see pre-
mium cigars regulated by FDA. The
language sends a message to FDA
that premium, handmade cigars are a
unique product undeserving of draco-
nian regulations that could decimate
the industry.
“Although this language is a posi-
tive step forward, as we prepare to
enter the 114th Congress, it does not
eliminate the need for an unambigu-
ous congressional exemption for pre-
mium cigars from FDA oversight so
manufacturers are able to plan for the
future of their businesses,” warned
a statement by CRA. “Going into the
114th Congress that will be sworn
in on January 6, 2015, CRA will con-
tinue to meet with members of con-
gress and their staff with a resounding
message that the existing regulatory
proposal would cripple the premium
cigar industry and that there needs to
be a legislative exemption granted to
protect premium cigars at all levels
from the consumer to the manufac-
turer.”
Bill Supports “Distinguishing” Premium Cigars
Language in congressional reports is encouraging, but those in the cigar industry must con-
tinue to push, reports the CRA.
Faced with an outright ban of all to-
bacco sales, the people of Westmin-
ster protested and convinced politi-
cians to drop the idea. In a 2-1 vote,
the Westminster Board of Health
killed its proposal to ban all tobacco
sales, the first such proposal in the
U.S.
Voting to drop the proposal were
board members Ed Simoncini and
Peter Munro, while board chairwom-
an Andrea Crete voted to keep it, lo-
cal media report. The vote to drop the
proposal came after a public hearing
drew more than 100 attendees, who
came to protest the effort. A week
later the board decided to withdraw
the proposal from consideration.
Westminster Gives Up Plan to Ban all Tobacco Sales
Residents of the Massachusetts town protested the move, stopping a proposed ban.