
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday withdrew its proposed rules to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. The rules, first proposed by the FDA in 2022, had been delayed several times, most recently in April under the Biden administration.
Former U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said at the time that the delay was following "immense” feedback and “historic” attention.
The withdrawal of the proposals on Tuesday came on President Donald Trump’s second day in office. The FDA, which is a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, said the HHS had issued a pause on "mass communications and public appearances that are not directly related to emergencies or critical to preserving health" when CSP reached out for more information. "This is a short pause to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization," the agency said.
In its initial announcement on April 28, 2022, the agency said these proposed product standards were based on clear science and evidence establishing the addictiveness and harm of these products and build on the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which prohibited all characterizing flavors other than tobacco and menthol in cigarettes in 2009. In 2019, there were more than 18.5 million current menthol cigarette smokers ages 12 and older in the U.S., with particularly high rates of use by youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic groups, the FDA said.
“The authority to adopt tobacco product standards is one of the most powerful tools Congress gave the FDA and the actions we are proposing can help significantly reduce youth initiation and increase the chances that current smokers quit,” former FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said.
The National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), whose mission is to enhance the business interests of retailers that sell tobacco and nicotine products, told CSP it applauds the withdrawal of these proposed “overreaching” regulations.
NATO said “250,000 comments were submitted to the FDA during the public comment period, with the overwhelming majority opposing the implementation of these rules that highlighted the significant consequences at retail, including substantial lost revenue, coupled with job losses across the country and how the supply of these products would have shifted from responsible, licensed and regulated stores to expand an already existing illicit marketplace.”
The withdrawal of the proposed rules has been welcomed by the cigar industry, including the Premium Cigar Association.
The Washington, D.C.-based trade association, which represents specialty tobacco retailers and supports manufacturers and partners in the industry, said it commends the agency’s decision to withdraw its proposed Tobacco Product Standard for Characterizing Flavors in Cigars rule.
“This quick move, made under the leadership of the Trump administration, demonstrates a commonsense action that maintains the ability of adult consumers to make informed product choices over prohibition,” PCA told CSP.
PCA called the withdraw a “significant victory” for retailers, consumers, and manufacturers of these products.
“We are grateful to the Trump administration for taking swift action based on sound science and fairness especially in the second day of the administration," said Joshua Habursky, executive director of PCA. “Hopefully, this is an indicator of a new approach with regard to regulatory agencies."
The withdrawl has come under scrutiny this week from those in favor of a menthol ban, including Yolanda Richardson, president and CEO of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
“We continue to strongly support eliminating menthol cigarettes to end the tobacco industry’s decades-long, predatory marketing of these products to kids, Black Americans and other communities,” Richardson said in a statement. “It is deeply disappointing that a final rule was not issued in a timely manner. We will continue to build support for eliminating menthol cigarettes nationwide. In the meantime, it is more critical than ever that states and cities step up their efforts to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.”
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