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FDA, in its sole discretion, will determine whether that
product stays on the market,” explained Briant. “Think
about that for a second. The company complied with
the FDA requirements, but the FDA, at the end of those
time periods, can still tell that company they have to take
their product off the market.”
Briant also pointed out that the FDA does not have
adequate staff to handle the thousands of new appli-
cations that will be coming its way—in addition to the
3,000 pending applications it has yet to get through. “We
will see a situation that they are so backlogged that they
cannot get through the applications, and the FDA will
need to extend deadlines again or face the risk of addi-
tional litigation,” he predicted.
RETAIL RAMIFICATIONS
From a retail standpoint, Briant noted that the FDA
has provided some guidance on what retailers need to
do to comply with the ban on sampling tobacco prod-
ucts. “Essentially, free samples are not allowed unless
there is an exchange of money,” said Briant. Under
that edict, marketing programs that involve coupons (as
long as the coupon is for less than the purchase price
of the item) and buy-one-get-one-free promotions are
allowed, since money is exchanged. In the case of loy-
alty programs, where points are awarded for purchases
and can be redeemed for free merchandise, Briant rec-
ommends designing the program so that the free mer-
chandise credit can only be redeemed during a tobacco
product purchase. “For example, if you offer a free cigar
after the fifth cigar purchase, the customer would need
to redeem that cigar when the fifth cigar was purchased
or upon the purchase of a sixth or seventh cigar, so that
the free cigar is provided during a purchase transaction,”
he explained.
Briant also warned the industry that additional reg-
ulations may well be forthcoming. “At the end of the
500-page deeming regulation document, the FDA states
that it intends to adopt more regulations in the future,
including a proposed clarification that would prohibit
flavors in all cigars, including cigarillos and little cigars,”
he said. “Such a ban would certainly eliminate a lot of
cigar products from store shelves.”
FUTURE FOCUS
Despite the many challenges ahead, when the question of
how to move forward with so much uncertainty around
what would and would not be permitted by the FDA was
raised, the responses from legislation and litigation experts
was reassuring. “The fact that there is a reconsideration
of parts of the deeming rule by the FDA itself, along
with the pressure from Congress and the outreach from
the industry, really shows that there are some true trade
winds behind our sails here,” noted Trope. “The Trump
administration is no friend of regulation, and I think that
fits very well with us as an association and as an industry.
However, legislative change takes time, he added.
“Things don’t move quickly in government, regardless
of the just nature of your cause—and in the meantime
we all have to live under this regulatory regime.”
TB
Rudy Giuliani:
President Trump,
Regulatory
Ridiculousness
and More
Keynote speaker Rudy Giuliani’s wide-ranging presen-
tation,
Principled Leadership in the Face of Change
and Crisis,
won a standing ovation, in part because
the former New York City mayor repeatedly refer-
enced the “ridiculous over-regulation of cigars.” As an
avid cigar smoker, Giuliani ridiculed new restrictions
on cigar smoking, pointing out that in the current envi-
ronment, “I could get a ticket for sitting on a bench in
Central Park and smoking a cigar, while the guy next
to me can smoke a marijuana cigarette, and, by order
of the mayor, the cop can’t arrest him.”
For more insights the “Mayor of theWorld” shared
about the current political environment, visit
Tobacco-
Business.com/RudyGiuliani.
Meet the President:
Kenneth Neumann
The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers
Association has named Kenneth Neumann, co-owner of
Chicago’s Neumann’s Cigars & More, its new president.
Neumann, who will serve a two-year term, has
said that advocacy is currently the association’s pri-
mary responsibility. “We are on the front lines fight-
ing for the rights of all members, big or small, to
continue to sell a legal product to adult consumers,”
he said. “[The] IPCPR has a critical role to play in
these challenging times. Leadership on the advoca-
cy fronts—federal, state and local—is job one, given
the governmental challenges. It is a high-stakes air
war in Washington, but we cannot take our eyes off
the incessant tax and restriction issues that are never-
ending in state capitals and municipalities.”
IPCPR
Continued