MINNEAPOLIS -- With exactly one month remaining for the public to submit comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the proposed tobacco deeming regulations, now is the time for tobacco retailers and wholesalers to take 10 to 15 minutes and submit comments to the FDA. NATO is providing with this article easy step-by-step instructions and suggested comments to make the process of submitting comments to the FDA simple and quick.
Instructions for Submitting and Drafting Comments
The proposed deeming regulation would extend the agency’s regulatory authority to all other categories of tobacco products including cigars, pipe tobacco, electronic cigarettes, nicotine gels, hookah tobacco and dissolvables, except accessories of a tobacco product. Exempt accessories would include such items as lighters, cigar cutters, humidors, cases, and hookah tobacco tongs, charcoal burners and holders. (Full draft of the FDA's proposed deeming regulations can be found here)
Click here for a set of instructions and suggested comments for retailers and wholesalers to use. In addition, both Microsoft Word and pdf formats of these instructions and suggested comments are on NATO’s website. Also on NATO’s website is a separate set of instructions and suggested comments for adults to use to submit personal comments to the FDA. To help spread the word for submitting comments, NATO urges retailers and wholesalers to provide a link to NATO’s website (www.natocentral.org) on their own websites so that adult customers can easily click the link and be taken to NATO’s website and use the instructions and suggested comments to submit comments to the FDA.
Retailers and wholesalers are encouraged to take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to review the applicable instructions sheet and submit comments to the FDA either online or by mail. Take this action to protect your business by letting the FDA know your concerns about the deeming regulations.
NATO will also be submitting a formal set of comments to the FDA regarding the deeming regulations. NATO’s comments and those of retail, wholesale, and manufacturers are very important because some of the proposed deeming regulations would have a serious negative impact on retail, wholesale and manufacturer businesses.
Again, please take the time to review the instructions on how to submit comments to the FDA and submit comments as soon as possible, but no later than August 8, 2014.
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