The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied the Plaintiffs’/Appellants’ petition for a rehearing en banc following a divided panel’s holding that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act neither expressly nor impliedly preempts Los Angeles County’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products.

On May 11, 2022, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by Plaintiffs/Appellants R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Inc., American Snuff Co., and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. (together, the “Plaintiffs/Appellants”) in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al. v. Los Angeles County, et al., No. 20-55930.  As discussed more fully by Troutman Pepper in Vapor Voice, the same panel earlier held in a split 2-1 decision that Los Angeles County’s flavored tobacco ban is not preempted by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, 123 Stat. 1776 (June 22, 2009) (the “TCA”). Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Denies Petition for Rehearing en Banc in Appeal over Preemption of Los Angeles County’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

Retailers should take note that Philip Morris USA Inc., Altria Group, Inc, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company have reached an agreement with the United States Department of Justice on warnings to be placed in retail stores carrying the manufacturers’ cigarettes to warn consumers about the health effects of tobacco. These are referred to as “corrective-statement signs” because they are meant as “corrections” to the manufacturers’ alleged deliberate misleading of consumers as to the dangers of smoking from the 1950s until the early 2000s. Continue Reading Cigarette Companies and Federal Government Reach Agreement on Warnings to be Displayed in Retail Stores

New Virginia law addresses excise taxation and other requirements regarding remote retail sales of cigars and pipe tobacco to consumers in the Commonwealth.

On April 27, 2022, the Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill 1199 and Senate Bill 748 regarding the application of the Commonwealth’s tobacco products tax on “remote retail sales” of cigars and pipe tobacco and related requirements. Continue Reading Virginia Enacts Tobacco Products Tax Law Applicable to Remote Retail Sales of Cigars and Pipe Tobacco

Last year we reported that Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan’s office settled with several online sellers over alleged violations of the state’s delivery sales ban of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) (the Delivery Sale Ban) and that we expected Vermont’s scrutiny to continue. As predicted, Attorney General Donovan’s office recently announced two more settlements with online sellers, resulting in a total of 23 settlements with online ENDS sellers for a total of $833,750 in civil penalties dating back to December 2020. Continue Reading Vermont Continues Its Crackdown on Online ENDS Sellers

Under Judge Grimm’s Revised Remedial Order, FDA must submit quarterly status reports regarding its review of pending PMTAs for certain popular vapor products.

On April 15, 2022, Judge Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ordered  FDA to submit status reports to the Court and to the Plaintiffs in the case every ninety days, beginning on April 29th. Continue Reading Deeming Regulations Litigation Update—Federal Court Exercises Even More Oversight over FDA’s PMTA Review

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act neither expressly nor impliedly preempts Los Angeles County’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products.

In a Vapor Voice posting on April 2, 2022, the Troutman Pepper Tobacco Team provided a breakdown of the Ninth Circuit’s 2-1 decision that Los Angeles County’s flavored tobacco ban is not preempted by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.  Kudos to Troutman Pepper Tobacco Team associate Robert Claiborne for his work on the piece, which follows up on this blog’s previous coverage of the case here and here.

On February 15, the Senate confirmed cardiologist Robert M. Califf, M.D., to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He’s no stranger to the agency. Dr. Califf served a brief stint as FDA’s commissioner of food and drugs from February 2016 to January 2017, and before that, he was deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco from February 2015 until February 2016. So what might his appointment mean for the tobacco industry? We have five takeaways.

Continue Reading Dr. Califf Takes the Reins at FDA: Five Takeaways for the Tobacco Industry

As part of a federal funding bill, language giving the Food and Drug Administration authority over synthetic nicotine, and any other nicotine that is not derived from tobacco, was passed by Congress on March 11.  President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law soon. Continue Reading Bill Regulating Synthetic Nicotine Clears Congress

Bryan Haynes, Agustin Rodriguez and Nick Ramos of the Troutman Pepper Tobacco Team will attend TMA 2022:  Policy & Practice in Leesburg, Virginia on March 28-30, 2022.  This is TMA’s first in-person conference since 2019 and comes as the tobacco and nicotine industry is at another crossroads as we confront issues ranging from menthol and flavors, authorization pathways, testing methodologies and product development.

Bryan Haynes of Troutman’s Tobacco Team will present during a panel discussion of FDA authorization pathways on March 29.  Mitch Zeller, the outgoing head of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, will present the keynote address on March 29 and Matt Holman, the head of the Center for Tobacco Products’ Office of Science, will present the keynote address on March 30.  Other panels will address product testing, synthetic nicotine and FDA tobacco product standards.

We look forward to seeing our clients and friends at the conference.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered a permanent injunction against Philadelphia’s enforcement of an ordinance banning the sale of certain flavored tobacco products, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the same.

Litigation over a local flavor ban came to a close on March 8, 2022, with Judge Gene E.K. Pratter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entering a permanent injunction:

  • prohibiting the City of Philadelphia from enforcing City Ordinance No. 180457 (the “Ordinance”); and
  • requiring the City to void and withdraw any and all regulations regarding the Ordinance.

The case is Cigar Association of America, et al. v. City of Philadelphia, et al., No. 2:20-cv-03220 (E.D. Pa.).

Continue Reading Philadelphia Flavor Ban Case Results in Permanent Injunction Against the City