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decrease NNN levels in smokeless tobacco
products, include the tobacco type (e.g., dark
air-cured tobacco, Bright leaf tobacco, Burley
tobacco), growing conditions (e.g., geograph-
ic region, climate, rainfall), curing techniques
(e.g., fire, flue, air, sun), production process
(e.g., additives) and storage conditions (e.g.,
temperature, humidity, duration).”
Tobacco farmers and manufacturers have
been working for many years to limit the
NNN levels in smokeless tobacco products.
With the FDA acknowledging that “[w]eath-
er is a significant factor in NNN production,”
there is no means by which farmers and
manufacturers can control the weather in an
effort to comply with the proposed 1 micro-
gram per gram limitation.
In the proposed rule, the FDA states that
“an NNN level of 1.0 ug/g [1 microgram per
gram] of tobacco has been achieved in some
smokeless tobacco products sold in the United
States,” and then claims that the proposed stan-
dard “is thus achievable using current technol-
ogy” for all smokeless tobacco products. The
FDA further states that the agency “may con-
sider a lower NNN level in the future.”
To put this in perspective and understand
how much 1 microgram per gram is, con-
sider that 1 gram of sugar by volume equals
one-quarter of a teaspoon. Now, on a very
simplistic level, take one-millionth of a quar-
ter of a teaspoon and that is the maximum
level of NNN that the FDA is proposing for
finished smokeless tobacco products.
Several manufacturers of smokeless to-
bacco products have submitted written re-
sponses to the FDA asking the agency to:
(1) withdraw the proposed rule to allow for
further consideration in light of President
Trump’s freeze on new federal regulations;
(2) withdraw the proposed rule because it
fails to adequately consider such basic issues
as whether the proposed standard is even
technically feasible for all smokeless tobac-
co products and the economic impact on
manufacturers and tobacco farmers; and (3)
address the agency’s apparent failure to con-
sider the differences between various types
of smokeless tobacco products.
Originally, the FDA planned to accept
public comments on the proposed NNN
product standard until April 10, 2017. How-
ever, after manufacturers requested that
the agency extend the comment period by
an additional 75 days to allow more time to
compile comments to address this complex
issue, the FDA announced this week that the
comment period has been extended by 90
days until July 10, 2017. NATO is planning
to submit comments to the FDA on the NNN
standard and its potential impact on retailers
that sell tobacco products. TB
Thomas A. Briant is
executive director of the
National Association of
Tobacco Outlets (NATO).
Light up your
business.
Intertabac 2017
22–24 September
DortmunD
Germany
World’s largest trade Fair
for tobacco products
and Smoking accessories
IT_2017_AZ_Besucher_TobaccoBusinessInter_127x190_E_RZ.indd 1 12.04.17 09:20 [ T O B A C C O B U S I N E S S . C O M ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ 13 ]