In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told industry that it would begin enforcing the agency’s cigarette graphic warning rule in December 2025 in an enforcement policy outlined in a short guidance document. Although a federal district court previously found the rule unconstitutional, an appeals court reversed that decision and the final rule is now in effect. In its guidance, FDA says that it will not begin enforcing until December 2025 at the earliest, but we believe it likely that the rule might yet again be postponed or vacated, as it remains the subject of ongoing litigation. 

Continue Reading FDA Says Agency Will Enforce the Cigarette Graphic Warning Rule in December 2025, But Pending Litigation Could Still Derail Those Plans

Earlier this month, 20 Democratic state attorneys general (AG) filed an amicus brief supporting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) marketing denial orders (MDOs) of premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) for flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS or e-cigarettes) currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief not only demonstrates which side these states support, but also identifies specific enforcement priorities for these states.

Continue Reading State AGs File Amicus Curae Brief in US Supreme Court Case Involving Flavored E-Cigarettes

In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a new proposed rule that would require importers of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products to provide an FDA-issued submission tracking number (STN) to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for imports of such products. This rule could result in the denial of entry for ENDS imports for which the manufacturer has not submitted a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) to FDA.

Continue Reading FDA Proposes Submission Tracking Number Requirement for ENDS Imports

Bryan Haynes of the Troutman Pepper Tobacco + Nicotine Team will attend the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in Athens, Greece on September 24-26, 2024.  GTNF is the world’s leading annual conference discussing the future of the tobacco and nicotine industries.

The theme of GTNF 2024 is advancing responsible innovation – how can the category continue to innovate while safeguarding tobacco harm reduction and consumer satisfaction?  The interactive event features the industry’s top speakers as well as experts from public health, government and finance.

We look forward to seeing many clients and friends at GTNF 2024.

Bryan Haynes of the Troutman Pepper Tobacco + Nicotine Team will attend the InterTabac trade show in Dortmund, Germany on September 20-21. 

InterTabac is known as the world’s largest trade fair for tobacco products and smoking accessories, with hundreds of exhibitors from more than fifty countries around the world.  InterTabac also offers substantive content where industry experts share insights and discuss developments and future trends in the tobacco and nicotine industry.

We look forward to seeing many clients and friends at InterTabac.

Agustin Rodriguez is attending the Third Annual New Approaches Summit on September 23 during UN week in New York City, which will focus on how policy, innovation, and technological advancements can collectively prevent 1 billion tobacco-related deaths this century.

Agustin will be participating on a panel discussion titled “Chevron, Triton, Registry Bills – An Evolving Legal & Regulatory Landscape in the US.”

Agustin Rodriguez and Bryan Haynes will be attending the upcoming Tobacco Science Research Conference in Atlanta, GA, from September 8 to 11.

This year’s conference is focused on “Tobacco Harm Reduction: What Have We Learned and How Do We Move Forward?”

Agustin will be participating in a panel discussion on Monday, September 9, titled “Weight of the Evidence: Assessing the Benefits of Smokefree Alternatives to Adults Who Smoke and the Risk of Underage Initiation,” where he will provide a legal perspective on this topic.

On August 27, the New Jersey Attorney General (AG) and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced that the state had issued notices of violation and $4,500 civil penalty demands to 19 retailers across New Jersey for allegedly selling banned flavored vapor products. This is New Jersey’s first public enforcement of the state’s 2020 flavor ban, and New Jersey joins a number of other state AGs taking similar action across the U.S.

Continue Reading New Jersey Issues Notice of Violations and Fines to Retailers Allegedly in Violation of the State’s Flavor Ban

We recently had the opportunity to attend, and present at, the industry portion of the 2024 Federation of Tax Administrators Tobacco Tax Annual Conference in Mobile, Alabama.

Presentations at the conference included topics of interest to state tobacco tax administrators and industry (the agenda is located here). The conference was well attended by both industry members and state and federal agencies responsible for enforcing tobacco and nicotine laws. Our team has attended this conference for several years and it always provides a great opportunity for collaboration between government and industry, and this year was no different.

Continue Reading Key Takeaways from the 2024 Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) Tobacco Tax Annual Conference

In August, a group of tobacco companies filed a petition for certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of a lower court’s holding that the First Amendment does not prohibit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from requiring graphic warnings on cigarette packs. As we noted in prior coverage, the March 2020 FDA rule at issue would require new textual, health warning statements alongside color, photorealistic images displayed on the top 50% of the front and rear panels of cigarette packs and the top 20% of cigarette advertisements.

Continue Reading Industry Urges SCOTUS to Consider FDA Graphic Cigarette Warnings