While the major tobacco companies pursue modified risk tobacco applications with the Food and Drug Administration, a number of bills are pending in state legislatures that would lower or eliminate tobacco product excise taxes for products that receive an FDA modified risk order.

Pending before the Mississippi Legislature is House Bill 906, which, if enacted, would increase the “tobacco equity tax” applicable to cigarettes manufactured by non-signatories to the State’s 1997 tobacco settlement agreement in Moore ex rel. State v. American Tobacco Co., et al., No. 94-1429 (Miss. Ch. Ct. Jackson Cnty.) (the “tobacco settlement agreement”). On January 11, 2018, the bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, which is chaired by the bill’s principal author, Representative Jeffrey C. Smith (R-Dist. 39).

Troutman Sanders Tobacco Team leader Bryan Haynes will be in attendance at the 2018 Tobacco Plus Expo in Las Vegas.  The trade show is January 31 to February 1, and brings together many of the top brands in the tobacco and vapor products industries.  We look forward to seeing our …

Coming under scrutiny in the 2017-18 session of the New York State Legislature, electronic cigarettes and other vapor products have been the subject of various proposed bills. Pending legislation could affect excise taxation, discounts, and warning labels. Some bills would even prohibit certain types of vapor products.

A bill was introduced in the New Hampshire legislature on January 3, 2018 regarding the regulation of e-liquids. The bill, NH18-H.1812, specifically addresses labeling requirements for e-liquid products. Distributors and manufacturers of e-liquid products to be sold in New Hampshire would be required to add a product label which…

In a nearly 250-page Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Honorable James O. Browning of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico has granted in part and denied in part a Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., Reynolds American, Inc., and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. The case is In re Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. Marketing & Sales Practices Litigation, No. 1:16-md-02695 (D.N.M.).

By way of background, this multidistrict litigation involves class actions filed by Plaintiffs across various states and under those various states’ respective laws, all directed toward the use of certain descriptors in Natural American Spirit (“NAS”) cigarettes’ packaging, labeling, and advertising.

On November 8, 2017, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) introduced H.R. 4273. The next day, Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced S. 2100. If passed, either bill would enact the “Tobacco to 21 Act.” The bills have been referred, respectively, to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Troutman Sanders Partner Bryan Haynes will attend the Food and Drug Law Institute Conference on Enforcement, Litigation, and Compliance held December 6-7, 2017 in Washington, DC. Bryan will moderate a session on the FDA’s enforcement of age verification and other requirements for tobacco products.

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