Legislation

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On December 19, Representative Henry Waxman, Senator Dick Durbin, and Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. sent letters to the twenty-nine State Attorneys General who were signatories of the August 8, 2014 letter to the FDA regarding regulation of e-cigarettes.  The December 19th letters lauded the continuing efforts of the State Attorneys General to encourage the regulation of e-cigarettes and called on them to classify e-cigarettes as “cigarettes” under the Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”). Such classification would, among other things, impose cigarette advertising restrictions on vapor products.

An article by the Troutman Sanders Tobacco practice appears in the December issue of Smokeshop Magazine. The article, titled “Hey Legislators: Vaping Products Don’t Belong in the MSA!” discusses the “longshot” bid by congressmen to have e-cigarettes included in the Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”).

Bryan Haynes, Troutman Sanders tobacco practice partner, will be attending the 2014 American Bar Association Section of State & Local Government Fall Council Meeting from October 9-12 in Denver, Colorado. Bryan will act as moderator during the October 9th afternoon panel entitled “The Regulation (or not!) of E-Cigarettes.”

The Senate Finance Committee this week held a hearing entitled Tobacco:  Taxes Owed, Avoided, and Evaded.  The purpose of the meeting was to address alleged tax evasion in three principal areas:  (1) evading higher cigar taxes by increasing the weight of products to qualify for the lower rate imposed on large cigars; (2) evading higher roll-your-own tobacco taxes by marketing cigarette tobacco as pipe tobacco, and (3) trafficking in contraband tobacco products, such as counterfeit or illegally manufactured products.  The head of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, John Manfreda, as well as industry representatives and tobacco control advocates, testified.

On July 10, 2014, Senator Nelson of Florida, along with several co-sponsors, introduced a bill in Congress that calls for “special packaging” requirements for e-liquid.  Commonly known as the Child Nicotine Poisoning Act of 2014, Senate Bill 2581 (“S. 2581”) calls on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (the “Commission”) to require childproof packaging, or “special packaging” for any e-liquid container, referred to in the bill as a “liquid nicotine container.”  S. 2581 has been referred to the House Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Missouri Senate Bill 841, which would prohibit the sale of “alternative nicotine products” and “vapor products” to minors, was introduced in February 2014.  In April 2014, the bill passed by an overwhelming majority in both the Missouri House and Senate.  On July 14, 2014, Governor Nixon vetoed the bill.  Over the last few days, various organizations have called upon the Missouri legislature to override the Governor’s veto.

The promotion and use of electronic nicotine delivery systems will be subject to higher regulation if H.R. 5010, currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, is enacted. On June 26, 2014, Representative Speier and four other co-sponsors introduced the Stop Selling and Marketing to Our Kids E-Cigarettes Act (the “SMOKE Act”). The SMOKE Act has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.