“Florida is home to America’s oldest premium cigar manufacturer, approximately 450 premium cigar retailers, as well as about 90 manufacturers and distributors. Many of these are small, family-owned businesses, which collectively support about 10,000 jobs. We are concerned that additional regulation of premium cigars could force these small businesses to close,” the senators wrote in their letter to the FDA.
In recent months there has been a lot of activity in the ongoing fight against FDA regulations. A long-argued lawsuit between the FDA and various cigar trade associations ended with the judge siding with the FDA [read more here] while that same judge later ruled in favor of the cigar industry and delayed the implementation of the cigar warning statement requirement that was set to go into effect on Aug. 10, 2018 [read more here]. The FDA also extended its comment period for its ANPRMs issued to address various issues within the tobacco business landscape including flavors, nicotine levels and premium cigar regulation. That extension ends on July 25, 2018.
For all the latest legislation and FDA news impacting the tobacco industry, click here.
