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CRA’S CIGAR CORNER
BY J. GLYNN LOOPE
A
t 1:00 p.m. on July 28, a voice
bellowed within the convention
hall in Las Vegas and announced
that the 2016 International Premium
Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association
annual trade show was now closed. With
those words, an entire industry began to
ponder its uncertain future, brought on by
the issuance of a needless slate of federal
regulations, being advanced by the U.S.
Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
Even as record orders for cigars were
logged by new companies and staples of
the industry alike, and even as hundreds
upon hundreds of new lines were being
introduced into the market to beat an ar-
bitrary and needless deadline of August
8, the cloud that now descended upon
this historic industry was never far from
the minds of these artisan craftsmen.
The resolve, however, to attack this fed-
eral regulatory overreach is as strong and
resolute as ever, while taking on a new
front to protect the simple pleasure of en-
joying a cigar, while preserving thousands
of American small businesses, jobs and a
historic relationship with Latin America.
Now this effort will involve the courts.
On July 15, 2016 in a historic collab-
orative announcement, Cigar Rights of
America (CRA), the International Pre-
mium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Associa-
tion (IPCPR) and the Cigar Association
of America (CAA) filed a joint lawsuit
against the FDA, asking the District
Court for the District of Columbia for
a declaratory injunction to “vacate, set
aside and enjoin the enforcement of the
final rule” because it violates numerous
federal statutes, as well as the federal
rulemaking process.
Mark Pursell, CEO of IPCPR, stat-
ed, “Our three associations pledged to
work together to develop the appropri-
ate response to the FDA’s new deeming
rule. After a thorough and detailed legal
review, we are challenging this unlaw-
ful regulatory action in federal court to
protect the statutory and constitutional
rights of our industry and its members.
The fact that all three of our organiza-
tions are acting in one voice speaks to the
urgency and seriousness of this action.”
The Battle to Preserve the
Premium Cigar Industry
is now a Two-FrontWar
The cigar industry needs all hands on deck to fight for survival.
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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016