WASHINGTON -- Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), joined by Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), pressed the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) to complete its review of a “long-overdue” rule to regulate e-cigarettes and other forms of tobacco as quickly as possible.
In a letter to OMB director Shaun Donovan, the senators wrote, “In the six years since the passage of the Tobacco Control Act, tobacco and e-cigarette companies have had time to develop new, innovative products, many with candy and fruit flavors, to attract and ultimately addict America’s youth. … It is critical that the administration take swift and immediate action to finalize the tobacco deeming rule in order to reduce tobacco’s harmful effects on public health and especially the health of America’s youth.”
Congress gave the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) the power to oversee various forms of tobacco products more than six years ago, when Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act in June 2009; however, it took until April 2014 for the FDA to issue draft “deeming” rules that would determine whether it would bring e-cigarettes, cigars and other forms of tobacco products under the FDA’s jurisdiction, and in the 18 months since, the rules still have not been finalized.
The senators said that as youth e-cigarette use has skyrocketed, they have repeatedly pressed the administration to finalize the rules in a timely fashion.
The rulemaking was formally moved to OMB for review by its Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs’ (OIRA) last week.
In their letter, the senators also urged OMB to ensure that the final rule includes strong regulations to help prevent youth tobacco use and other harmful effects, including a minimum age standard, limits on advertising, health warnings on the products, bans on the use of flavorings and marketing that appeals to children and mandating child-proof packaging of e-liquids to protect young children from accidental nicotine poisoning.
Additionally, they urged the administration not to “grandfather” products such as e-cigarettes from reviews to determine whether they constitute threats to public health.
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