There’s a new cigar-friendly bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, but it will only be useful if new rules by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) don’t go cigar smokers’ way. The FDA is currently debating between two regulatory paths for premium cigars. Under Option 1, the FDA would treat premium cigars like most other tobacco products meaning that all products introduced after the new rules go into effect would require pre-approval by FDA before any new cigar were to come to market. But any product being marketed prior to Feb. 15, 2007 would be largely exempt from rules. Products introduced in between Feb. 15, 2007 and the day the rules went into effect would have two years to apply for approval, but would be able to stay on the market. H.R. 2058 deals with that Feb. 15, 2007 date, pushing it back until the day that the new FDA rules go into effect. This would mean that hundreds of new brands—and dozens of newer companies—would be able to stay on the market with very minimal changes and at a significantly lower cost. It’s unknown what the cost of product applications would be, but it’s believed to be ...
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