Currently, the FDA only regulates tobacco, cigarettes, and roll-your-own types, but in recent press the Federal Drug Administration has declared that it will be extending regulations to include cigars. The notice, sent out under the Federal Register (the daily publication of the U.S. Government containing all new proposed legislation and regulations) reports that the new regs will come in under the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act passed by Congress in June 2009. The new legislation will be amended under section 901 to include cigars specifically.

What does this mean for you and your favorite stogies? In the past, The Federal Drug Administration has required that cigarette companies disclose ingredients, nicotine levels, and heavily regulated advertisements so that they don’t appeal to children and those under the legal age to purchase and consume tobacco products. Readers will be interested to know that the FDA banned sale and consumption of certain flavored cigarettes, especially those with cloves imported from Indonesia.

In June of this year the FDA will have to issue a proposed order to the general public. At this time commentary will be allowed and you can believe that pro-tobacco organizations are already preparing for their official statements. The National Association of Tobacco Outlets has confirmed that it will be issuing comments to the pending legislation in June.

For more reading on this topic, including portions from the Federal Register, please visit: CSPNet.com and CigarCyclopedia.com. Thanks to both publications for their timely and informative coverage.

How do you feel about the pending legislation? Will you be lobbying your professional organization to make an official statement in June?