NEWS
HOW
NEW FDA VAPING
RULES PREVENT RETAILERS
FROM TELLING THE TRUTH
TO THEIR CUSTOMERS
…and don’t even think of helping a customer
fit a battery, fill a tank or replace a coil
It has been referred to as the ‘vaping
apocalypse’ and it is now well and truly
underway throughout the USA.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
is clamping down on the e-cigarette
industry and it is clamping down hard.
Under current rules it could hardly look
any more bleak and depressing because
within two years it is feared that the
entire industry could be virtually
wiped out.
It is as if a huge asteroid is heading
towards earth and once the dust settles
after it strikes everything will be exactly
the same as it was before…except that
the vaping industry will
have disappeared.
August 8 was the day that everything
c hanged. From that date all vaping
hardware and e-liquids were officially
deemed to be tobacco products and a
whole new set of rules and regulations
came into force with more still to come.
For a start there can be no innovation
from that date, at least for the time being
and certainly not without great expense.
Basically manufacturers can (for now)
sell what they are already selling but
must not change anything at all from
their current product line such as varying
nicotine levels, altering ingredients, flavor
profiles or bottle sizes.
18 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE USA
Gregory Conley, President of the
American Vaping Association, said: “In
order for a vapor product to be able to
be sold after August 8, 2016, it must be
commercially marketed as of that date.
This means that after August 8,
manufacturers are not only prohibited
from releasing new flavors, devices,
coils, etc., but they also may not make
virtually any modifications to
existing products.
“It is critical that manufacturers (including
single shop retailer-manufacturers)
understand that any variation of the
nicotine level, bottle size, flavor amount,
ingredient type, etc. in a current product
(i.e., one being marketed on August 8,
2016) will result in a “new” product that
will be illegal to sell without pre-approval
from the FDA.”
One regulatory change that probably
everyone agrees about is that no vaping
products can be sold to those under 18.
Retailers should ask for photo ID from
anyone who looks younger than 27 to
ensure that minors are not sold vaping
products and online sellers will have to
use an age-verification system to comply
with the FDA age regulations.
The law which says there can be no
modification of products is far more
controversial and is one which many
people regard as rather silly and
needlessly bureaucratic.
It looks like the authorities will interpret
the word ‘modification’ very widely
indeed so that it could include totally
innocuous and helpful things such as a
retailer:
“These new rules cut us off at the
throat. The FDA doesn’t allow us to
give any proper advice to customers
on how to use vaporisers or how to
work them properly.”