Deeming Regulations have been released!!!!

Eskie

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I guess there's nothing to lose by going back to explain that it was not e juice, but I already tried to change their minds three times. I doubt they'll change their minds at this point no matter what I say.

Could simply be a matter of a small business which is unfamiliar with regulations in the US who don't want the risk or exposure should they run into some type of customs problem and/or attention.
 

JustWondering1

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Could simply be a matter of a small business which is unfamiliar with regulations in the US who don't want the risk or exposure should they run into some type of customs problem and/or attention.

I think this is a very likely scenario! They aren't real sure what the deal is, probably don't want to hire a lawyer to figure it out and are making their own "harm reduction" policies with an abundance of caution.
 

Lessifer

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I thought that was pushed off for requiring registration until June. I could easily be mistaken on that, but there was a 6 month delay built in for the early regulatory requirements.
June 30th is the extension for domestic establishments. There, as far as I can tell, is currently no specific rule for foreign retailers selling directly to US residents, though I assume they would be considered manufacturers. If you're a retailer who imports foreign products in order to sell them to US residents, you're considered a manufacturer.
 

Katya

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"SUPPORT COLE-BISHOP!

Even if you've reached out to your lawmakers in the past, we need you to do it again. We have received word that the Cole-Bishop amendment is being seriously considered for inclusion in the FY2017 US budget.

But, this is not a guarantee. There are strong forces working against anything that might be perceived as a "Republican rider" in the budget bill. Even though Cole-Bishop is a bipartisan effort in support of what should be a bipartisan issue, the effort to modernize the predicate date for vapor products has been stripped out of the budget before.

We need your help to keep Cole-Bishop in the budget bill!

Please take a moment to call your representative and senators:
  • Urge them to support the Cole-Bishop language in the 2017 US budget bill
  • If the predicate date for vapor products is not modernized, nearly all vapor products will be wiped off the market in 2018. Many businesses will start closing down this year.
  • The FDA will still have the authority to regulate vapor products and common sense regulations like no sales or marketing to minors will remain unchanged.
  • If you have time, briefly, tell your story about how vaping has helped you.

When you're finished with your call, visit www.august8th.org and send an email.

Please share this URL with everyone. EVERYONE!

Thank you,
CASAA Legislative Team"
 

MacTechVpr

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Why is it so difficult to do the right thing? Define tobacco as a combustible leaf product. End of story.

Who could argue with the veracity or validity of that?

Extract vaping from tobacco legislation.

We're going to argue about the effectiveness of this strategy or that, the impossibility or improbability of one or the other ad infinitum to preserve a property right which is intrinsically and so rightfully already ours. Talk about convoluted logic, to debate how much we should allow a government determined to take it from us.

I marvel at how so many could do so little to address what is so obvious.

Good luck. :?:
 

mattiem

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I know a lot of folks don't think petitions are useful and those folks could be right but to do nothing will seal our fate. Way back in June 2015 a few of us got together and worked on a petition to keep vaping from being classified the same as smoking. So far we have 60,552 supporters. I guess it must not be that important. Someone posts a petition to save some tiny tree frog in the deepest heart of Africa and millions of folks jump over each other to sign it but when it comes to this life saving product we just get Ho-Hum.

It is truly sad to me that the vaping organizations wouldn't even consider trying to help spread the word about the petition or at least consider another avenue to fight against being deemed tobacco to begin with. Instead they stuck to fighting for the predicate date. Could they not see that the date wouldn't matter if the petition was effective. :facepalm:
 

MacTechVpr

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We all want progress, but progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Good luck. :)
 

mattiem

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We all want progress, but progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Good luck. :)
So very true :)
 

Eskie

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Isn't NY already at the top of the screw us list with what they've already implemented?

Tapatyped

NY has been one of the better places. The state tried the tobacco regulation stuff several years ago, pre deeming, and the Appellate court of the state tossed it, basically saying how is this possibly a cigarette?

The prior language in the budget was real nasty. not just $.10 per ml tax, but a 75% wholesale tax. That and possession of 500 ml of juice or more without being a registered vendor with taxes paid would be considered a Class E Felony.:confused:

I'm going to be sent away for so looong.....................
 

JustWondering1

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Aug 29, 2015
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April 11, 2017

Vapor News and Views

News and views on vapor tax and regulatory issues from across the United States. The best way to stay up to date with what's happening in Washington and in your state capitol.


Greetings from Albuquerque, New Mexico!

This is an extremely important time in the nation's capital. Though Congress is on recess for two weeks, major decisions on and the finishing touches to the 2017 federal budget are being made right now. Additionally, last Wednesday's confirmation hearing of Scott Gottlieb to lead the FDA revealed what some of us have known for some time... He's our team.

Would you be interested in listening to a 30-minute semi-regular podcast on tobacco harm reduction? The politics, the public policy, and the progress being made in the name of freedom and consumer choice. If so, what sort of things would you be interested in hearing about? Email me at pblair@atr.org to share your thoughts.

Additionally, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that it's tax season. Check out our website for a lot more information on what's going on in the tax and regulatory world outside of vaping! While working to achieve regulatory relief for the vapor industry and its millions of consumers, ATR is also working hard this year to get Big League tax cuts for you, your families, your businesses, and your annoying neighbors. Real big. You have until April 18th to file this year.

--
Paul Blair
Strategic Initiatives Director
Americans for Tax Reform


Cole-Bishop Actually Under Consideration This Month
It might be recess, but it's also decision time for appropriators regarding the inclusion of the Cole-Bishop language in the FY17 budget. That's because some sort of budget that funds the government must pass before the end of April.

As many of you know, the House's 2016 Cole-Bishop policy rider push was punted into this year after last year's elections when Congress decided to pass what is known as a "clean" Continuing Resolution, or C.R. Passing clean budgets equates to funding the government to keep it open while preventing debate or the consideration of amendments, language, or riders that may result in controversial shifts in legislative, administrative, or agency policies. Cole-Bishop is an agency policy change amendment to an individual appropriation bill, so it doesn't get consideration in a clean CR. Unless a handful of House and Senate Democrats agree to include the Cole-Bishop language in a broader budget, it dies. No one in Congress is shutting down the government over this issue.

So, what might happen this month?

  • Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, Maj. Leader Mitch McConnell, and other GOP leaders assess the best way forward to avoid a government shutdown while POSSIBLY passing individual appropriations bills (several at least together, definitely not them all);
  • The appropriate committees provide their language, funding levels, and priorities to leaders & their colleagues for somewhat of a consensus (already mostly due);
  • If an agreement can be made over most individual appropriations bills, they'll pass an omnibus package that throws the bills together, including quite possibly the Agriculture Bill;
  • One rumor suggests that the Senate is taking the lead on this fight as House factions between moderates, conservatives, and process-oriented objectors makes things... difficult;
  • If a debate over things like ensuring continued funding of Planned Parenthood (Democrat priority) and funding The Wall (Trump priority) derails this whole thing...
  • They pass another clean or short term CR. (Cole-Bishop is punted until the next train departs the station). Note: this is not the desire of GOP leadership.
My last premium newsletter for subscribers and ATR supporters did an even deeper dive of this process and was out a week ago. What else might you be missing?

Anyways, if you have made a phone call to or emailed your member of Congress and both of your Senators, thank you for your leadership, but please do it again. If you have not, why are you reading this email? These next two weeks are also the best time to set up a meeting with your member of Congress while they are home. Email me if you need suggestions on the best way to do that.


Scott Gottlieb the Right Choice to Lead the FDA
Regular readers of this newsletter know that I've been a supporter of Scott Gottlieb to lead the FDA since Trump's victory in November. His confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) last week provided a preview of the coming culture shift at the agency in the realm of tobacco harm reduction and the embrace of vapor products in the United States. Here are a few highlights that underscore his commitment to harm reduction:
  • In his introduction: "In areas where there’s an inherent, obvious, and seemingly unavoidable risk related to certain consumer products – whether its combustible tobacco or dangerously addictive opioid drugs – we have the opportunity to help consumers move to less risky alternatives."
  • "I think Congress had great foresight in envisioning the opportunity for reduced harm products to transition smokers off of combustible tobacco onto reduced harm products," he said, when asked by Senator Bill Cassidy about shifting consumers towards reduced harm products.
But what about flavors? Nearly every vape shop will tell you their most popular products for adult customers are fruit flavored. How does this relate to the current or potentially new regulatory treatment of the product category overall by the FDA? In a brief back and forth with Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on youth use and the types of available products, Gottlieb provided some very telling answers to questions posed to him on these subjects.

  • Murray: "While the Tobacco Control Act prohibited fruit and candy flavored cigarettes, flavored e-cigarettes and cigars have flooded the market in recent years. E-cigarettes are now available in thousands of flavors... Do you commit to wholeheartedly addressing the clear public health risk posed by flavored e-cigarettes and cigars by resisting industry pressure to weaken the so-called Deeming Rule, which brought e-cigarettes and cigars under FDA's authority?"
  • Gottlieb: "These are empirical questions about when a reduced harm product can be a useful tool for transitioning people off of combustible cigarettes onto a reduced harm product and when they might be a gateway towards adolescent smoking. In a properly constructed, properly overseen regulatory process, we should have the capacity under the authorities Congress gave to the agency to make these determinations. I'm committed to trying to make that work."
  • My Take: The FDA could have banned flavors last year.This is an important question because TCA gives FDA the authority to regulate the availability of flavored "tobacco" products. Gottlieb clearly opposes a national flavor ban on vapor products because they may be effective smoking cessation products. Additionally, he seems to agree that the current Deeming Rule did not create a "properly constructed, properly overseen regulatory process." The head of the FDA/CTP created a bad rule and its implementation is being poorly overseen. Full stop.
  • Gottlieb's Money Quote: "There should be reduced harm products available to consumers to transition them off of combustible cigarettes." This will not be the case absent a Congressional change to the predicate date or immediate regulatory relief from HHS/FDA.


Hearing Summarized: Scott Gottlieb supports the continued availability of flavored vapor products. He seems to indicate the Deeming Rule is not a properly constructed rule, in part because it does not honor the intent of Congress in addressing or acknowledging the availability of reduced risk products on the market. And he believes there is a line between the potential for products to be smoking cessation tools and merely products that might be used for consumer enjoyment (see: silly named vapor products on the market.) Gottlieb is our team.

Keep the faith. Things are going to get better.


If you think this email was informative please do forward to friends or colleagues who might be interested in Vapor News and Views! They can subscribe by clicking here.

And if you can't get enough... If you crave even more exclusive information... If want to know more about what's going on in Washington and around the country, get your premium content even quicker with a subscription to Vapor News and Views Pro by emailing me at pblair@atr.org

Paul Blair | Americans for Tax Reform | 202-785-0266 | pblair@atr.org | www.atr.org
 

JustWondering1

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Aug 29, 2015
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Looks like we have a better shot at neutering the Deeming Regs. I am going to contact my congressman and senator again. The last time I did this, my Senator sent me a response that pointed out that Cole Bishop was a house issue, it gave me the opportunity to tell him that if anything regarding vaping were to come before the senate at any time in the future, I would like him to know where I stand on the issue.
 

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