On March 28, 2011, Representative Henry Waxman, the architect of the Tobacco Control Act giving the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg suggesting that the FDA extend the ban on flavored cigarettes to flavored cigars that have purportedly been designed to “circumvent” the flavored cigarette prohibition.
Distributors — Have Your Suppliers Complied with the FDA’s Registration and Filing Requirements?
Since the 2009 passage of the Tobacco Control Act, the Troutman Sanders Tobacco Practice has been helping our clients comply with the many new Food & Drug Administration requirements for tobacco companies. These requirements include FDA registration and other filing requirements.
More recently, the Troutman Sanders Tobacco Practice has been working around the clock to help our clients file their “substantial equivalence” reports due on March 22nd. This requires reports to the FDA regarding products that were first sold after February 2007, or products that have changed since then.
FDA Considers Ban on Menthol Cigarettes
On March 18, the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) suggested that the FDA consider banning menthol cigarettes. TPSAC argued that menthol makes people more likely to start smoking and less likely to quit.