Smokeshop

SS June 2016

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STAFF: Mark Pursell, C.E.O., mark@ipcpr.org; Kip Talley, Sr. Dir., Federal Legislative Affairs, kip@ipcpr. org; Matt Dogali, Sr. Dir., State Legislative Affairs, matt@ipcpr.org; Rachel Hyde, Legislative Affairs Manager, rachel@ipcpr.org; Dawn Conger, Sr. Dir., Assoc. Member Relations, dawn@ipcpr.org. OFFICERS: Craig Cass, President (Charlotte, N.C.); Ken P. Neumann, 1st V.P., (Libertyville, Ill.); John Anderson, 2nd V.P., (Washington, D.C.); Greg Zimmerman, Treasurer, (Lemoyne, Pa.); Scott Regina, Secretary, (Virginia Beach, Va.); Finnie Helmuth, Ex-Officio, (Cockeysville, Md.). BOARD MEMBERS: Veronica Fenner, Colorado Springs, Co.; Terry Gallagher, Boulder, Co.; Dave Garofalo, Salem, N.H.; Mike Howe, Tampa, Fla.; Mame Kendall, Bridgeville, Pa.; Todd Naifeh, Oklahoma City, Ok.; Mike Peacock, Euless, Texas; Kent Pennington, Addison, Texas; Vartan Seferian, Phoenix, Ariz.; Reagan Starner, Tuscaloosa, Al.; Jim Young, Pinellas Park, Fla. International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailer's Association (IPCPR), 513 Capitol Court N.E., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20002, Tel: (202) 621-8064, Web: www.ipcpr.org; Email: info@ipcpr.org, Twitter: @theIPCPR. 8 SMOKESHOP June 2016 E. Edward Hoyt III Editor & Associate Publisher Lily Coleman Art Director Melinda Ayala Production Coordinator Thomas Briant Contributors Bryan Haynes, Brad Perkins, Frank Seltzer, Craig Williamson LOCKWOOD TRADE JOURNAL CO., INC. Robert Lockwood President & Publisher Frederick Lockwood Vice President Rob Lockwood Executive Director Roxanne Cordova-Melendez Accountant SMOKESHOP MAGAZINE Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc. 3743 Crescent Street, 2nd Floor Long Island City, NY 11101 Tel: (212) 391-2060 Fax: (212) 827-0945 Website: www.smokeshopmag.com Editorial submissions: Send new product announcements, corporate news, calendar events, letters to the editor, or story ideas to The Editor, editor@smokeshopmag.com SMOKESHOP (ISSN 0146-9266 print edition; ISSN 2331-8562 online digital edition), established in 1970, is published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October, and December) by Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc., 3743 Crescent St., 2nd Floor, Long Island City, NY 11101 U.S.A. Postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offic- es. Annual sub scrip tion rates: United States, $24; Canada, $34; all other countries $49 by surface or $69 by airmail, payable in advance. Copyright ©2016 by Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc. The contents of SMOKESHOP, and all articles, illustra- tions, photos, etc. are copyrighted and may not be reprinted except by permission. CPC agreement number 1477773. POSTMASTER: Please send all address chang- es to SMOKESHOP Magazine, P.O. Box 385, Congers, N.Y. 10920-9985. Single Issue: US$15 T H E I N D U S T RY A U T H O R I T Y O N T O B A C C O R E TA I L I N G Official Publication of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association Member: International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR); National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO); Tobacco- nists' Association of America (TAA); Cigar Rights of America (CRA). LETTER Editor's Industries Gear for Fight as FDA Comes Down Hard on Cigars, Pipe Tobaccos, and Vaping O ne almost has to wonder whether the FDA ever any intention whatsover in considering its own proposed "Option 2" which would have treated premium cigars differently from other newly-regulated tobacco prod- ucts under the long-awaited deeming regulations, given the agency's reasoning for selecting "Option 1." Released on May 5, the 499-page set of regulations ex- tends FDA's oversight to now cover all tobacco (and vapor) products, bringing cigars, pipe and hookah tobacco, and vapor products into the fold, joining cig- arettes and smokeless tobaccos that it already regulated. All tobacco and vapor products are treated equally without regard to their relative risk, the realities of how they are produced, who consumes them, and how they are consumed. Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, told Reuters that the agency could not make such fine distinctions in introducing new con- sumer protections against tobacco products. That kind of makes much of the premium cigar industry's efforts over the past two years to fend off potentially crippling regulation nearly moot. Concerns over the regulation's effects on smaller manufacturers lacking the resources to comply with whithering reporting and testing standards and the fees to fund the Center for Tobacco Product's operation? Nothing new there... Concerns that the predicate date, the crucial "line in the sand" that deter- mines which already-marketed products fall under the regulations, at nearly a decade in the past jeopardizes untold numbers of products, and even entire cat- egories? "We have no control over that," replies FDA. "Talk to Congress." Concerns that FDA regulation will cause dramatic consolidation within the industry, leaving the vast majority of market share concentrated among a handful of major players? "Our focus is to protect public health," responds FDA. The list is seemingly endless… Concerns that there are large passages of unclear language that FDA could interpret any way it chooses, perhaps on the fly? Concerns that a retailer mixing together tobaccos at the counter is actually a manufacturer subject to the same regulations as a major factory? Perhaps the industry needs to set aside the delusion that "working with the FDA" is a meaningful way to protect its interests. The vast majority of the regulations have little to do with keeping tobacco products out of the hands of minors or protecting public health, and a whole lot to do with drowning tobacco companies in a sea of bureaucracy, reducing the viability of being a manufacturer at all, and denying adult consumers access to otherwise legal products. E. Edward Hoyt III

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