FDA Announces Proposed Flavored Cigar Product Standards Rule
If you’ve been following the news and proposed legislation around cigars and especially “flavored” cigars lately then you’re quite aware that the FDA has had a target on this classification. It started with vaping and menthol cigarettes and the proposed legislation has also included flavored or infused cigars. Below is an excerpt from the article published on the PCA website.
Today, the Food & Drug Administration and the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) announced their “Tobacco Product Standard for Characterizing Flavors in Cigars” proposed rule, which would prohibit characterizing flavoring in all cigars.
On March 10th the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) was the first stakeholder group to meet with the Office of Management & Budget, Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs, and Food & Drug Administration to raise concerns about this pending rule, ask for clarification on the specifics, and make recommendations about further research on international implications and impact on small businesses. PCA asserts that the agency still has left many questioned unanswered specifically on:
- characterizing flavor descriptors
- total small business impact
- foreign impact in cigar producing countries
- impact on minority owned small businesses
“The FDA failed to do their homework in this rule and the document is filled with cherry-picked data that mirrors spoon fed talking points from anti-tobacco groups. The proposed rule is a mess that is ripe with potential challenges and reflective of an agency that is unable to prioritize its resources appropriately.” said Greg Zimmerman president of the PCA.
For the full article you can find it here.
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