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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
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
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.
May 13, 2016 @ 12:53 pm
My company that I work for would have to eliminate 10 jobs in the US and 30 positions or more in Nicaragua. Needless to say if this happens you no longer get schip, otp tax, or sales tax. Please make premium cigars exempt from this ruling.
May 13, 2016 @ 1:54 pm
There is NO relevance to cigar use to other tobacco use. Please do you do your research before another industry is destroyed based on quack science.
May 13, 2016 @ 2:07 pm
Has anyone heard a peep from any representative of either Altadis or General Cigar is response to this latest intrusion? If so please share. Just what exactly is the interpretation of the new regs? Or is it really final. The FDA does not have the constitutional authority to make law. Period. Just like the EPA. Or any of the other alphabet agencies. The minute anyone attempts to justify or approve such thinking that is the case, especially from any Government agency, then Congress is a ghost.
May 13, 2016 @ 4:09 pm
It’s not our job to prove what ingredients other than tobacco are in the cigars, we buy tobacco from reputable growers who then process the tobacco, how would we know otherwise?
May 14, 2016 @ 12:26 pm
When did I ask the govt to control every single action in my life? Actions like these led to the Amerian revolution in 1776. Govt needs to serve the citizen, not control it.
May 14, 2016 @ 6:01 pm
I am a private citizen and I enjoy smoking cigars . What I don’t enjoy is a government office running my life and telling me what’s good for me . I’m 71 years old & I don’t force my cigars on anyone else , so I would like to get this ruling on cigars reversed !
Thank You
James D.Seaman
May 15, 2016 @ 3:29 pm
This is beyond the definition of governmental overreach. How is it that a non-elected government entity can unilaterally decide to put a LEGAL product and the entire supporting industry on it’s knees. It’s my life and I don’t want or need government to make decisions for me that I am perfectly capable of making on my own. This must be rolled back immediately before the FDA puts thousands of people out of work.