WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has announced the issuance of its 10,000th tobacco retailer warning letter for violations of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. While these warning letters have in the past been primarily for failure to check for age identification, of note in the latest enforcement is the notices sent to vendors selling RYO pipe tobacco.
According to the warning letters, these products are intended for use in Roll Your Own machines. Labeled as “pipe tobacco," these products are illegally being sold at a substantially reduced tax rate. A sample of the language from one of the warning letters reads: “We note that under the ‘Pipe Tobacco’ section of your website, you present graphic images of the product which are promoted or labeled as ‘pipe tobacco;’ however, the overall presentation of these products strongly suggests that they are intended for use in a cigarette. Specifically, in your ‘Pipe Tobacco’ section of the website, you promote these product brands for sale with cigarette-injector machines or as part of roll-your-own starter packages or starter kits, which include tobacco, cigarette tubes, and a cigarette machine. This presentation suggests that your products are intended to be used to make cigarettes with the cigarette machines and cigarette tubes with which you promote them. Because the overall presentation of your products, which consist of loose tobacco, suggests that they are intended for use in cigarettes, they meet the FD&C Act’s definition of ‘cigarette tobacco.’”
Commenting on the recent enforcement, NACS Senior Vice President of Government Relations Lyle Beckwith said, “We are pleased that CTP is broadening its net beyond just brick and mortar retailers to include all aspects of the law by incorporating checks of internet vendors into the enforcement regiment. The fact that 10,000 warning letters have been sent further emphasizes the need for all retailers to be familiar with the law and to embrace and implement training programs such as We Card.”
Read more at FDA.gov.