Following the announcement of the Deeming Rule by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) around tobacco product regulations, the Cigar Asssociation of (CAA) has issued a press release. In the press release the CAA said it was distributors, and other suppliers, said today that it was “prepared to continue working closely with the Food and Drug Administration as FDA establishes regulatory authority over the cigar industry.”

The proposed regulations will be published in the Federal Register on 4/25/14 and will be available for a period of 75 days of public comment ending on July 10, 2014. Of importance to the cigar industry is whether or not premium hand-rolled cigars should be in a separate category, thus not subject to FDA authority. The FDA is seeking public comment that could decide whether or not premium cigars will be regulated as other tobacco products.

The CAA has said have met with the FDA numerous times over the past three years to help them in understanding how cigars are different than other products, and the differences among the types of cigars. CAA has also supported what they term “sensible regulation” to discourage youth usage of cigars. The CAA has also helped educate the FDA on bringing cigar products to market, use of flavorings, and the use of age verification systems.

“The bottom line here is that FDA appears to recognize that our industry is composed of multiple segments with a tremendous variety of products. FDA also appears to agree with CAA that there is no possibility of fair and reasonable one-size-fits all regulation,” said CAA President Craig Williamson.

“FDA has taken its responsibility seriously every step of the way,” added Williamson. “We recognize that we’ve now reached another step in the process, and you can be sure the cigar industry will continue to be actively involved through CAA. We don’t always agree with FDA, of course, but we’re confident after today that this agency listens carefully and are cautiously optimistic that it is committed to its mission of fact-based and science-based decision making. CAA is committed to working with FDA on that mission.”

The Cigar Association of America was founed in 1937. It is a national trade organization that represents he national trade association representing cigar manufacturers, importers, distributors, and other suppliers..