Amendment to Move FDA Predicate Date For Vapor Products Adopted

The Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA), the largest trade association representing and managing the interests of the vapor industry, today issued the following statement regarding the House Appropriations Committee adopting an amendment (31-19) to the Agricultural and Rural Development Appropriations bill to change the predicate date for vapor products to the effective date of the FDA’s final rule:

“Today is a good day for the vapor industry in the effort to help reduce the public harm caused by smoking, specifically because it helps protect the consumer-driven innovations made in the vapor industry over the past several years,” said Cynthia Cabrera, president and executive director of SFATA. “While the work is not yet done, we will continue to work with Congress to protect the rights of businesses and consumers in the manufacturing and use of vapor products, ensuring that these products stay on the market as effective replacement tools against smoking.”

“We want to thank all House members that voted in favor of the amendment, particularly U.S. Representatives Tom Cole (R-OK) and Sanford Bishop (D-GA) for introducing this bi-partisan legislation,” added Cabrera. “Today’s amendment is a first solid step in the effort to reduce the public harm caused by smoking as we await the FDA’s final deeming regulations.”

The FDA’s e-cigarette deeming regulations, which are entering the final approval stage and currently being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), have the potential to create a de-facto ban on nearly all vapor products currently on the market if the February 15, 2007 “grandfather date” is left intact. The Tobacco Control Act requires a prohibitively costly pre-market authorization for each new tobacco product sold after February 15, 2007 that would include “newly deemed” products like vapor products as proposed by the FDA.