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TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012
manufacturer level is being told as never
before,” says Glynn Loope, executive
director for Cigar Rights of America
(
CRA). “And for the first time in political
cigar history, consumers are chiming in.”
CRA MEETS WITH FDA
In late August, the CRA met with
the FDA, which included Dr. Lawrence
Deyton, director of FDA’s Center for
Tobacco Products (CTP). According
to Loope, it was a positive experience.
Referring to the FDA, he says, “They
were attentive to us. They asked good
questions; they were open to listening to
our message.”
Loope also maintains that “they could
not tell us when and if and how they
would regulate cigars, but they did note it
was the beginning of a process.” He adds
that as with any government agency, there
will be a public comment period “that will
be critical no matter what they do.”
Meanwhile, the cigar industry is being
Cigar regulation reality & nightmare
Premium cigars are no longer impervious to legislation as they once were. Affecting the U.S. cigar industry right
now is this restrictive reality:
•
All 50 states have some form of smoking ban; local, state, and federal governments are working to pass even more-
restrictive legislature.
•
Additionally, 48 states have enacted cigar taxes. Some states have gone as far as taxing cigars at a rate of 75 percent.
•
When President Obama signed the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) on February 4, 2009, the
federal excise tax on cigars was raised to 52.75 percent.
•
The good news is, to help exempt premium cigars from FDA regulation, the industry has H.R. 1639 and S. 1461,
the
Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act
.
•
Without the awareness and exemption, industry experts such as those at the Cigar Rights of America (CRA)
believe some of the drastic measures the FDA could consider against cigars are:
•
Ban on walk-in humidors, self-serve cigar displays, and mail-order cigar sales;
•
Ban on all flavored cigars enjoyed by legal-age adults;
•
Defacing of ornate, decorative cigar boxes, often considered an art form with grotesque images;
•
Ban on cigar events where free cigars (samples) could be available to legal-age adults;
•
Limits on cigar marketing and advertising;
•
Imposition of new “user fees” [tax] on cigars, to finance regulations;
•
Limits on special-release and small-batch cigars, due to mandates that cigar blends be submitted
to FDA for pre-approval before release;
•
Limits on nicotine levels on cigars to near zero, severely impacting the flavor of cigars; and
•
Ban on marketing cigar merchandise.
Source: Cigar Rights of America (CRA)