While the FDA has taken several high-profile actions regarding e-cigarettes and its own application-review process in recent months, the path to developing standards and regulations has several steps that the agency is required by law to complete, said Tom Briant, executive director for NATO, a Lakeville, Minn.-based tobacco-retailing association. The process includes public comments periods, an assessment of all submitted remarks, additional comment periods and the development of the actual standard itself. He said it’s a lengthy process.

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