The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (“CTP”) has released a strategic plan intended to guide the Center’s activity for the next five years. While the strategic plan highlights the laudable goals of regulatory clarity, stronger enforcement against non-compliant actors and more timely and transparent application review, the plan is problematic in that it promotes an agenda of burdensome new regulations and does not provide a clear emphasis on the promotion of less harmful alternatives in the tobacco and nicotine marketplace.
FDA Maintains Heightened Enforcement Against Sellers of Illegal E-Cigarettes
In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to online retailers for reportedly selling unauthorized e-cigarette products. Consistent with the Center for Tobacco Products’ (CTP) recent focus, the letters target unauthorized products, which FDA states are particularly appealing to youth — including Lost Mary, Funky Republic/Funky Lands, and Elf Bar/EB Design. These warning letters follow FDA’s recent issuance of civil money penalty complaints against 25 brick-and-mortar retailers for failing to comply with prior warning letters. Those civil money penalty complaints, which we previously discussed here, continued the agency’s approach of seeking the maximum penalty approved by law.
FDA Continues ENDS Enforcement with New Injunction and Civil Money Penalty Proceedings
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently filed new injunction and civil money penalty proceedings against unauthorized, flavored e-liquids and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) manufacturers and retailers. The agency has been criticized for not doing enough to fight the sale of unauthorized vapor products, but these actions should at least remind manufacturers and retailers that the agency’s warning letters are not empty threats.
ENDS Companies Take Legal Action Against Allegedly Noncompliant Competitors
Recently, NJOY LLC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against more than 30 foreign and domestic defendants that manufacture, market, distribute, and sell tobacco products in an (indirect) effort to force them to comply with federal and state laws. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company (collectively, RJR) also recently filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against more than 25 foreign and domestic manufacturers, distributors, and retailers (collectively, the respondents) that seeks to prevent the import and resale of certain tobacco products. These lawsuits serve as two examples of how industry is trying to take independent legal action to target allegedly noncompliant actors and force them to comply with applicable law.
FDA Ramps Up Enforcement Against Flavored Disposable E-Cigarettes as External Pressures Mount
In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued two new rounds of warning letters to online retailers, manufacturers, and distributors for reportedly selling or distributing unauthorized e-cigarette products. Notably, FDA’s most recent letters target several popular disposable flavored products, including Elf Bar, EB Design, Lava, Cali, Bang, and Kangertech, which FDA states are particularly appealing to youth. FDA also sought civil money penalties against 22 retailers for failing to comply with prior warning letters and, for the first time, sought the maximum penalty allowed by law.
Takeaways from Listening Session on the Development of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Strategic Plan
On August 22, 2023, the Troutman Pepper Tobacco + Nicotine Team attended the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (“CTP”) virtual listening session on the development of CTP’s strategic plan. We previously blogged about CTP’s intent to issue a finalized five-year strategic plan by December 2023, including the agency’s five proposed strategic goals.
FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products to Hold Public Meeting on PMTA Process
The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (“CTP”) will hold a two-day public meeting on the agency’s premarket tobacco product application (“PMTA”) process. The meeting will be held October 23-24 and can be attended in person in Silver Spring, Maryland, or online.
CTP’s press release indicates that staff…
U.S. District Court Vacates FDA Deeming Rule With Respect To Premium Cigars
Yesterday, August 9, 2023, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued his decision vacating the decision of the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to “deem” premium cigars covered by FDA’s 2016 rule that swept all tobacco products under the same set of regulations. In previous decisions, the District Court already had vacated the portions of the Deeming Rule that required premium cigars to display health warnings on packaging and advertising and to engage in the burdensome premarket authorization process.
FDA Touts “Significant Strides” in Addressing Reagan-Udall Report but Acknowledges More Work Remains
Our team has previously written about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) response to the Reagan-Udall Foundation report on the Center for Tobacco Product’s operations. If you missed our prior posts, check them out at the links below:
Inside FDA’s Response to Reagan-Udall Foundation Report: Spotlight on the Public Education Campaigns and Resources Task Forces
This is the fifth post in our multipart series evaluating the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) response to the Reagan-Udall Foundation report (the Report) on the operations of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). If you missed our prior posts on the Report and FDA’s response, check them out at the links below:
- Reagan-Udall Foundation Recommends Improvements to the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products
- FDA Responds to Reagan-Udall Foundation Report
- Inside FDA’s Response to Reagan-Udall Foundation Report: Spotlight on the Science and Application Review Task Force
- Inside FDA’s Response to Reagan-Udall Foundation Report: Spotlight on the Cross-Cutting and Regulation and Guidance Task Forces
In this segment of our series evaluating FDA’s response to the Report, we review a subset of the Report’s recommendations and responses from two CTP Task Forces — “Public Education Campaigns” and “Resources.”