Enhancing variety will continue to be a key for this high growth category. By Howard Riell, Associate Editor. Sales of smokeless tobacco products keep increasing and convenience store operators are enjoying the ride. But keeping that graph line headed north means keeping a wary eye on proposed federal regulations, keeping sets fresh, properly allocating shelf…
Tobacco Retailers Get an “A” For FDA Compliance
NATO encourages FDA to issue letters of compliance to the tobacco retailers that pass compliance inspections, as positive reinforcement. More than 96% of tobacco retailers inspected by federal contractors in 38 states and the District of Columbia were found to be in compliance with new tobacco regulations designed to prevent the sale of tobacco products…
FDA’s Requirement For Graphic Images on Cigarette Packs Blocked
A Federal Judge strikes down FDA’s graphic image requirement on packs of cigarettes until the lawsuit is resolved. A judge has blocked a federal mandate that would require tobacco companies to add graphic images to cigarette packages in 2012, the Associated Press reported. On Monday, Nov. 7, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled cigarette manufacturers…
Adding a Spark to Tobacco Sales
Customized and novelty lighters offer customers an opportunity to express themselves. By Howard Riell, Associate Editor. In simpler times, lighters were used chiefly as a means to an end—lighting up a cigarette, birthday candles or even restarting an oven. Today, however, with the growth of the tobacco accessories category, lighters have become an end in…
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…
Restraining Order Issued On RYO Machine Rule
According to a Nov. 15 Court decision, the U.S. Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is immediately restrained from enforcing the rule issued on Sept. 30, 2010 that regulates the commercial size cigarette-making machines being used in retail stores, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. The Nov. 15 order also…
NATO Show Secures Key Tobacco Companies
The National Association of Tobacco Outlets Inc. (NATO) has announced that all of the leading cigarette manufacturers in the country are committed to participate in NATO’s 10th Anniversary and Trade Show. Altria Sales and Distribution, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard Tobacco and Commonwealth Brands are all confirmed exhibitors at the show to be held April…
FDA Proposes Rules on Cigarette Warnings Labels
On Nov. 10, 2010, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products issued a 140 page document titled “Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisement Proposed Rule,” which modifies the current cigarette package warning labels and also requires color graphic warnings to accompany the new text warnings, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. The FDA…
RYO Machine Rule Stands
A judge has struck down a request for a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Treasury’s Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) ruling that regulates the commercial size cigarette-making machines being used in retail stores, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. The TTB previously ruled that a retailer who provides a commercial…
NATO Meets With CTP on Tobacco Rules
The National Association of Tobacco Outlets’ (NATO) board members, and Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) and his staff held a meeting on Oct. 29 to discuss the FDA’s pending guidance document that includes recommended elements of a tobacco retailer clerk training program. NATO had two overall goals for…