Today, almost every cigar purchased in the U.S. will be sold in a manner much like they were sold on Sunday. And yet, today is Aug. 8, 2016, a monumental day in the cigar industry. Regulation of the cigar industry by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration officially begins; and yet, it’s unlikely consumers and even retailers will feel the effects for some time to come. The reality is that while regulation begins today, almost none of what consumers will be explicitly affected by begins today. Below are the key takeaways for the new rules, which officially go into effect today. (For more information please visit halfwheel.com/fda.) 1. NO “NEW” CIGARS WITHOUT FDA APPROVAL AFTER AUG. 8 Under the new rules, manufacturers are now prohibited from introducing new cigars unless they receive pre-approval by FDA. At least in theory, it works like this: a manufacturer applies for substantial equivalence of a product—likely spending thousands of dollars in legal, lab and administrative fees in the process—gets FDA approval and then can introduce a new product. Many, if not most, manufacturers are skeptical given FDA”s track record with the cigarette industry that the agency will even respond to substantial equivalence requests, though ...
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