Several important local tobacco ordinance issues have either been recently resolved or action is pending in the coming weeks. These local actions include the pending repeal of the Haverstraw, New York display ban ordinance, a federal appeals court decision on the New York City graphic poster ordinance, and a proposed ordinance in Providence, R.I., that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and prohibit the redemption of tobacco product coupons and promotional product pricing.
Several important local tobacco ordinance issues have either been recently resolved or action is pending in the coming weeks. These local actions include the pending repeal of the Haverstraw, New York display ban ordinance, a federal appeals court decision on the New York City graphic poster ordinance, and a proposed ordinance in Providence, R.I., that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and prohibit the redemption of tobacco product coupons and promotional product pricing.
Haverstraw Display Ban
On July 17, the Board of Trustees for the Village of Haverstraw, N.Y., adopted a resolution settling a lawsuit that was filed seeking to overturn the village's ordinance that prohibited retailers from displaying any tobacco product that would be within a consumer's view. In the settlement agreement resolution, the Haverstraw Board of Trustees agrees to repeal the display ban ordinance in its entirety in exchange for the industry members that brought the suit from seeking reimbursement of attorney's fees and costs.
NATO has sent a copy of the Haverstraw lawsuit settlement resolution to the Pawtucket, R,I., city council, which has also been considering an ordinance requiring all tobacco products to be stocked out of the public's view.
New York City Graphic Poster Law
On July 10, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that upheld the striking down of a New York City ordinance that required graphic anti-smoking posters to be placed near cigarette displays in retail stores. The circuit court ruled that the ordinance was null and void because it is pre-empted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA), which governs cigarette health warnings. In its decision, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Appeals Court held that to allow local or state governments to "mandate supplementary warnings on or near cigarette displays risks the creation of 'diverse, non-uniform, and confusing' regulations."
NATO has sent a copy of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to the Philadelphia Board of Health, which had considered, but placed on hold, a similar ordinance that would have mandated a graphic anti-tobacco poster to be located next to each cash register in retail stores that sell tobacco products.
Providence Ban on Flavored Tobacco and Coupons
Finally, NATO and other industry members sued the City of Providence, R.I., seeking to overturn an ordinance that bans the sale of flavored tobacco products, prohibits tobacco product coupon redemption and restricts promotional pricing of tobacco products. A hearing was originally scheduled for August 1st for the federal district court judge to hear the summary judgment motions filed by the industry member plaintiffs and the City of Providence; however, the hearing date has been changed to the third week in August.
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