We enjoyed seeing our friends and meeting new ones at the Tobacco Plus Expo show in Las Vegas on January 30-31. We also attended a meeting of electronic cigarette companies just before the show.

The talk of the show, at least from our perspective, was the proliferation of exhibiting e-cigarette companies. We have been attending the show since 2007, when it would have been hard to imagine how the e-cigarette industry would grow exponentially in just six years.

E-cigarette companies are bracing for the prospect of FDA regulation. FDA has promised to regulate the industry under the Tobacco Control Act, and has indicated that it intends to issue proposed regulations by April 2013. Yet many in the industry appear to be ill-prepared for potential regulation.

If you haven’t considered how FDA regulation will impact your business, and are not preparing for FDA regulation, you should.  We have been advising clients about FDA tobacco requirements since before the Tobacco Control Act’s passage in June 2009.  We also have been advising many companies about the prospect of future FDA regulation of e-cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco.  Please contact us for details.

For questions and/or comments, please contact Bryan Haynes, at 804.697.1420 or by email.