After five months of speculation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has confirmed its regulations which prohibit cigar companies from distributing samples also appliy to donating free cigars to soldiers. The FDA’s position on this was confirmed in a response sent to Congressman Duncan Hunder (R-California) by Ramesh Menon, the FDA’a Acting Supervisory Congressional Affairs Specialist. […]
It isn’t every day a United States Senator and former Presidential candidate visits a cigar factory, but that’s exactly what Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) did this past Wednesday. On the campaign trail Senator Rubio, joined by Florida House Representative Dana Young paid a visit to the J.C. Newman Cigar Company Factory, the last cigar factory […]
On September 15th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has issued warning letters to 55 retailers who were found in violation of selling tobacco products to minors. Perhaps the most interesting fact is that none of the violations involved a traditional (i.e. non-flavored, non-infused, 100% long-filler tobacco) handmade cigar product. One […]
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its regulations on premium cigars, one of the items in the regulations was a ban on cigar sampling. One gray area has been whether or not charitable contributions of cigars could be considered a sample. As a result, the question arose on whether cigar companies could continue […]
This week on August 31st, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published draft guidance that documents the procedures cigar manufacturers need to follow to submit warning plans. As a part of this process, the FDA is accepting comments on the procedures. The comment period will run 30 days closing on September 29th, 2016. […]
The Tobacconist Association of America (TAA) has announced it has donated $50,000.00 to the legal challenge the industry associations have filed against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that challenge the deeming regulations. The announcement mentioned an equal split of the funds between two of the three industry organizations – the IPCPR (International Premium […]
A U.S. District Court in Washington has said a label change does not constitute a new tobacco product. It’s a ruling that will help the cigar industry, but its one that comes from an unlikely source – the cigarette industry. The decision was handed down by U.S. Court District Judge Amit P. Mehta on August […]
On August 8th, 2016, the first day the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deeming Regulations for premium cigars went into effect came word of several cigar companies having import shipments held up at U.S. Customs by FDA Inspectors. It turns out this is a part of a process that comes with being a regulated […]
This time of the year, plenty of new cigars post IPCPR are show up at local stores. However cigar consumers are noticing a flurry of new cigars that weren’t announced prior to, nor showcased at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show. In fact, these are cigars that have had virtually no marketing and most have been sight […]
The clock has struck midnight on August 8th, 2016. The premium cigar industry in the United States is now subject to regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While the industry is going to certainly change over time, from an end consumer standpoint August 8th, 2016 is not going to be all that different […]
