Earlier this year, federal officials said they would increase enforcement against illicit flavored disposables.
“We are going to wipe out the illicit vapes off the market,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at a U.S. Senate Committee Hearing regarding FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) operations.
“Chinese smugglers are laughing at us and we are going to stop it,” said Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary during a television interview in response to a question about the flood of illicit vapor products coming from China.
In September, the FDA delivered on this pledge of increased enforcement as it announced the seizure of 4.7 million units of unauthorized vapor products with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million—the largest-ever seizure of this kind. This was part of a joint federal operation that uncovered shipments of various illegal vapor products, almost all of which originated in China and were intended for shipment to various destinations in the United States.
Further, Makary announced an initiative to increase voluntary compliance from tobacco and nicotine retailers. As part of this effort, FDA will be mailing materials to more than 300,000 retailers nationwide containing:
- A list of the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) marketing granted orders (MGOs), which include 39 vapor products and 20 nicotine pouch products.
- Information on accessing FDA’s Searchable Tobacco Product Database, which includes over 17,000 tobacco products—covering all categories, such as cigarettes, cigars, and vapor products—that may be legally marketed in the United States.
- New tobacco retailer education materials, including a wall calendar of reminders focused on retailer requirements such as only selling tobacco products to those 21 and older and requiring a photo ID check of anyone under 30.
NATO also maintains a tracker of FDA’s administrative and enforcement actions on its website. Check out the enforcement actions page on www.natocentral.org to see the disposable vapor brands cited as unauthorized or illegally sold by the FDA’s enforcement actions.
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