US: New FDA Commissioner Comments On Premium Cigars

Source from:  Cigar Aficionado 06/26/2017

FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb has acknowledged the concerns small businesses face over the agency's regulation of the premium cigar industry and said he will work with legislators to "mitigate the unintended consequences of these measures."

During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee meeting Tuesday morning, Florida Senator Marco Rubio asked the newly-appointed commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration if he had any plans to reevaluate FDA regulation of the premium cigar industry.

"Whatever we do in this regard is going to need to be science-based," said Gottlieb. "But we are cognizant of the challenges faced by small businesses." The FDA commissioner was testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies regarding the FDA's budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Gottlieb, whose appointment to FDA commissioner was largely praised by the premium cigar industry, said the agency would be happy to work with Congress should they choose to act on current legislative measures that would exempt premium cigars from regulation.

A Senate Bill (SB 294) pushing for the exemption was introduced in part by Senator Rubio in March.

Other than acknowledging the concerns of family-owned premium cigar companies, Gottlieb refrained from commenting further, given the pending litigation surrounding these regulations. The three major lobbying groups that represent the cigar industry in Washington—Cigar Association of America, International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association and Cigar Rights of America—filed a joint lawsuit against the FDA last July. The trial has already been delayed once, and is now set to begin on August 30.

Earlier this month, Cigar Aficionado began a letter-writing campaign to Dr. Scott Gottlieb and President Donald Trump advocating for the exemption of handmade cigars from FDA regulation. Enditem