ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NACS, along with the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA), recently filed comments with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerning “Tobacco Product Standard for N-nitrosonornicotine Level in Finished Smokeless Tobacco Products.”

The agency’s proposed rule regarding a tobacco product standard for NNN levels in finished smokeless tobacco products could adversely impact “retailers’ ability to sell these legal products in a responsible, yet practicable manner. Specifically, the NNN levels set in the proposed rule are too low to be technically feasible, in effect creating a ban on these products and violating the statute governing the agency’s actions on these matters,” the comments read.

While appreciative of the agency’s work “to exempt retailers from being considered in violation of the standard as long as they adhere to certain storage and sale requirements,” NACS and SIGMA requested the FDA “to ensure that any final regulation limit storage requirements to accepted industry standards to ensure that they are not excessively burdensome to retailers.”

NACS and SIGMA also applauded the agency’s “recognition that retailers must have time to sell through previously-acquired stock before any final rule is enforced.” However, the associations pointed out that 60 days isn’t enough time, and proposed instead that “retailers working to comply with the rule should instead be allowed to sell through all stock they acquired prior to the rule entering into effect.”

The associations concluded that “because the NNN standard set in the proposal is not achievable, it amounts to a ban on smokeless tobacco and violates the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act as well as the Administrative Procedure Act. … Retailers should not be held liable for things that they cannot control—including NNN levels in properly-stored tobacco products.”