BOULDER, Colo. -- Warning of looming regulatory issues and the threat of a federal excise tax, panelists on the second day of a three-day Smoker Friendly corporate and franchisee conference said everything from nicotine content to the flavoring of cigars could be affected.
Addressing a record 350 attendees, the panelists representing some of the convenience and tobacco industry's largest associations, said they are actively working to secure the necessary Congressional votes to scuttle bills addressing increased Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulation---collectively, [image-nocss] measures that would have a significant impact on both manufacturers and retailers.
Legislation currently pending in the House and Senate threatens not only cigarettes and smokeless, but could expand to the larger world of OTP [other tobacco products], including cigars, pipe tobacco and roll-your-own, said Tom Briant, executive director for the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO).
Briant noted several key measures that FDA regulation could affect:
Rules that could allow federal or state bans on the sale of tobacco products. Lower nicotine content in products that could threaten the consumer demand. The elimination of tobacco flavoring with the exception of menthol, a move that might ripple over to the industry success story of flavored cigars.The measures currently exist in the form of two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, so many steps still have to take place before the threat is fully realized. President George Bush has said he would veto the measure. What Briant is focusing on is getting the votes to make certain Congress does not overthrow the veto.
Hank Armour, president and CEO of the National Association if Convenience Stores (NACS), said that the recent resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may push further movement of the measures back until next year.
Armour and Briant, along with fellow panelists, also pointed out the current debate on a federal excise tax as a clear threat to the category. I'd use the analogy of paying $3 on a can of beer to make the point, Briant said.
The 11th annual Smoker Friendly conference saw a marked increase in attendance at about 350 compared to 200 last year. The boom was the result of a successful push for franchisees, having gone from 220 locations last year to more than 520 today, said Mary Szarmach of Boulder, Colo.-based Smoker Friendly International.
[Pictured: David Riser, vice president, government relations and trade marketing, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Tom Briant, executive director, NATO; Darryl Jayson, vice president, Tobacco Merchants Association; and Hank Armour, president/CEO, NACS.]
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