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Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruling that will regulate premium cigars, Cigar Rights of America (CRA) has launched two new petitions.  One petition is directed at members of Congress while the other one is directed at the President of the United States. In both cases, the petitions urge each branch of government to reconsider the FDA’s decision as it pertains to premium cigars.

Congressional Petition

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Photo Credit: U.S. Capitol Facebook Page

This is a new petition that urges both the Senate and the House of Representatives to take action and protect the premium cigar industry from federal regulatory oversight. It urges Congress to support the exemption for premium cigars through S. 441 and H.R. 662. One significant difference with this petition from previous ones to Congress is that this one asks members of Congress to support language in the recent House Appropriations Bill to exempt premium cigars. Cigar Enthusiasts should this fill out this petition again.

When accessing the petition, cigar enthusiasts can simply enter his/her zip code. The system determines the Congressional representatives and provide a way of generating an email or letter. Cigar Enthusiasts are advised to only fill out this petition once.

The petition can be accessed here.

White House Petition

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Photo Credit: White House Facebook Page

This petition urges the Obama Administration to further review the final rule on premium cigars being subjected to federal regulatory oversight. It asks the Administration to have its agencies to further review the FDA’s decision.

The petition requires 100,000 signatures by June 11 to garner a response from the White House in 60 days.

This is petition involves having to enter an email address. Cigar Enthusiasts are advised to only fill out this petition once.

The petition can be accessed here.

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Back in 2012, a petition was created to the White House asking for an exemption for premium cigars. The petition garnered a total of 40,694 signatures and did receive a response by the Obama Administration. However, the Administration kicked that response to the FDA who rejected the petition. The wording of the new petition is different and focuses on getting the Administration to have its various agencies to re-review the regulations and the impacts, so cigar enthusiasts are encouraged to fill this out again.

Another important note is that this petition has a new threshold, 100,000 signatures in 30 days. This resulted from a change made to how the White House petitions work. As a result, a more aggressive approach will be needed to get the signatures.