Anyone manufacturing tobacco products without first obtaining the necessary permit is subject to civil and/or criminal penalties. The federal Alcohol, Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) issued an announcement regarding the impact of the Aug. 20 ruling on RYO cigarette machines by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the National Association…
AWMA & Merchants Grocery Co. Host FDA Plant Tour
Merchants Grocery Co. plant tour aims to help FDA better understand the distributor’s role in the tobacco distribution process. A group of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulators visited AWMA member Merchants Grocery Co. in Culpeper, Va., on Wednesday, July 18, and viewed the company’s tobacco processing operation at the invitation of AWMA and Merchants. …
RYO Machine Regulation Takes Effect
Commercial RYO machine operators must comply with the new rules effective immediately. On Friday, July 6, President Barack Obama signed the transportation bill, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, into law. The bill included a provision that defines commercial RYO machine operators as tobacco manufacturers under federal law. This means…
RYO Regulation Passed
House members voted 373 to 52 in favor of the bill and Senate members voted 74 to 19 to pass the legislation. On Friday, June 29, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate voted to pass a transportation bill that included commercial RYO regulation, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. The…
FDA Announces Intent to Regulate OTP
FDA expects to issue a deeming regulation in summer 2012 to cover other tobacco products. Cigars, e-cigs and cigarillos are among tobacco products about to meet with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scrutiny. The agency has announced its intent to issue a “deeming regulation” sometime during the summer of 2012 to cover other tobacco…
Cigarette Warning Labels Upheld By Appeals Court
Following a federal court decision that graphic warning labels were unconstitutional, an appellate court has ruled that requiring cigarette warning labels are not a violation of free speech, rather they fall under commercial speech disclosures, are disclosing the health risks of cigarettes and are reasonably related to the government’s interest of preventing the deception of…
New Report Attacks Tobacco Sales, Targets C-Stores
Report by anti-smoking groups condemns c-stores for point-of-sale tobacco marketing. A new report, titled “Deadly Alliance: How Tobacco Companies and Convenience Stores Partner to Market Tobacco Products and Fight Life-Saving Policies” has been released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Counter Tobacco (a project that works to counter tobacco product sales and marketing at the…
FDA Issues Letter On Warning Labels
“At this time, FDA will not be soliciting or reviewing cigarette warning plans, the agency noted. Due to ongoing litigation, the implementation date for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final rule entitled “Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements” (“June 2011 Rule”) —which requires larger, more prominent health warnings on all cigarette packaging and…
FDA Issues Warning Letters To Tobacco Retailers
More than 1,200 retailers that sell tobacco receive warnings about violations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent warning letters to more than 1,200 retailers, the majority of which respond to violations relating to selling tobacco to minors, as part of its ongoing effort to reduce tobacco use among children. While most retail establishments…
Tobacco Companies Fight Warning Labels
Hearing underway in U.S. Federal District Court on cigarette health warnings. Yesterday, Sept. 21, a hearing took place before U.S. Federal District Court Judge Richard Leon on a lawsuit filed by five tobacco manufacturers seeking a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the FDA’s new text and graphic picture warning labels for cigarette packages and…