Vaping industry wants to push back FDA grandfather date

The vapor tobacco industry is calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to add language to a spending bill that changes the grandfather date for electronic cigarettes and cigars under new rules being finalized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Under the agency’s proposed rules, all products that hit stores after February 15, 2007 would have to apply retroactively for approval — a process that companies say would be prohibitively expensive.

{mosads}The Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA) said the final rule, which is being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget now, has the potential to create a de-facto ban on nearly all vapor products currently on the market if the current “grandfather date” is left intact.

SFATA said it supports H.R. 2058, legislation Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) introduced in the House to change the Tobacco Control Act’s date for vapor and other newly deemed products to the date the FDA issues its final rule.

“Despite tremendous outreach in support of H.R. 2058, its passage is not guaranteed and because the FDA has said it lacks the legal authority to change the grandfather date, we are focusing our efforts on the Senate Appropriations Committee, urging members to consider the same language in the House’s Agriculture spending bill which funds the FDA,” Cynthia Cabrera, SFATA’s president and executive director, said in a news release.

Similar language to preclude the FDA from using any of its funds to implement the February 15, 2007 “deeming date” has already passed the House Appropriations Committee.