While the premium cigar industry continues to lobby for support to protect itself from devastating proposed regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), new evidence suggests the biggest helping hand from one of the unlikeliest of sources, the White House. As first noted by Reuters, new documents released yesterday indicate that the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) made crucial changes to the FDA’s proposed deeming regulations, including the establishment of a proposed exemption for premium cigars, otherwise known as Option 2, and clarifications to protect the internet sales of tobacco products. In April, FDA introduced its proposed deeming rule, which could apply significant regulations to cigars, e-cigarettes, pipe and shisa tobacco, chief among them, a crippling product approval process. At the moment, the agency is seeking public comment on the matter, including whether “premium cigars” should be exempt from regulation entirely, the only such product category to receive this option. That provision came from OMB. Under its original proposal, FDA would seek comment regarding premium cigars, and what defines a “premium cigar, “but only in an effort to create different sets of rules for premium cigars compared to other cigars. The agency was not considering ...
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