US Suppliers Call to Action!! Join the Fight!!

[Adam]

Hello fellow Supplier,

This is Adam Braithwaite with Vapor Options. As you may know I am not currently a Supplier due to the fact of withheld shipments in US Customs on hold for the FDA which has completely stopped me from ordering in new product. I chose to shut down until a decision was made to let the seized shipments be released. I thought that would have been when the judge ruled in favor of SE/njoy, but sadly that is not the case.

I was told by the FDA that they are not releasing any shipments other than for those two companies, unless we were part of the court order. I then contacted my attorney and discussed joining the lawsuit with SE/njoy so that I could have the same court order. I was informed that it would be a FRCP Rule 24 Motion to Intervene, which would allow a company to join the lawsuit because the facts of my case are very similar to theirs and should therefore be heard together. My attorney went on to say that it would be very expensive to do that alone and that it would be best to file the Motion to intervene as a large group of US Suppliers filing one Motion together.

So, I am asking you to take a Call to Action. Join the lawsuit with SE/njoy so that we all can order products without fear of seizures. I wrote a long post about how this would work, what it would involve and how it would be funded. Please go to www.vaporoptions.com and read the long post with those details and become part of the fight for your business. Strength is in numbers and together we can make a difference.

After you visit www.vaporoptions.com and read the post, if you’re interested you can either PM me to let me know or leave a comment on the website with your contact details and domain.

Keep Vaping,

Adam Braithwaite

 

[68stang]

Interesting, The Judge said the FDA can not regulate E-Cigs not "njoy" ecigs....that is confusing

 

[Raven1]

I was afraid something like this might happen. Does EVERY supplier now have to bring a lawsuit against the FDA to keep them off their backs?! If so, your suggestion below would be the only way to go:

and that it would be best to file the Motion to intervene as a large group of US Suppliers filing one Motion together.

 

[ChipCurtis]

Interesting, The Judge said the FDA can not regulate E-Cigs not "njoy" ecigs....that is confusing

Not quite. The judge said that FDA cannot regulate e-cigs under the banner of "drug/delivery device". He said the e-cig is to be classified as a tobacco product.

But FDA now has regulatory authority over tobacco products (as of June 09), but has not yet classified the e-cig as either a tobacco product or a reduced harm tobacco product.

Until they do so, e-cigs remain at the very least legal, and completely legal to distribute whatever product you currently have in your hands at this point.

The political gridlock situation stands as follows: FDA will stonewall on the return of any seizures made up to Jan 14 2010 (Leon's ruling), and will continue random seizures of non-SE, non-NJoy product as long as those individual companies don't have the balls to take them to court.

What this means in practical terms, until further rulings are made, is that you stand a good chance of getting product in because FDA simply cannot stop ALL shipments -- only a fraction of them. The best way to stay under the radar is simply to not make VERY LARGE AND CONSPICUOUS orders of e-cig inventory. Make smaller orders from a wider net of large scale inventory suppiers -- that way most orders will get through, and the ones that don't get through is to be considered the cost of doing e-cig business for now.

 

[VictoryNotVengence]

fight the good fight my freind. this is the first step in winning. good luck and i hope ALL the suppliers jump on board.

 

[invisiblewardog]

If the government can't regulate a growing trend, they can't tax it. It will happen.

 

[Adam]

ClipCurtis, that simply isn't true about most shipments will fly under the radar. Feel free to go to vaporoptions.com and look for the phone number to the FDA. They will tell you as they did me that they are only releasing products for those two companies. You are reading the judges opinion, not the court order. The difference is one is a formal statement by the judge, the other is the order of the court which must be abide by. The Opinion states "ecigs" not a specific company, however the more important court order strictly mentions those two companies and therefore does not relate to everyone else.

Still skeptical? Call the number on the website for the FDA Division of Imports for yourself and get your answers.

I see this eventually going two ways. One is everyone will order from china in very small orders for personal use and never get caught, but pay much more for shipping. Meanwhile suppliers will keep trying to fly under the radar until they have so much tied into US Customs and hit a string of bad luck as I did and be put out of business. The fact of the matter is Suppiers need a few hundred dollar shipments at a time and that is on the very very low end to stay in business.

Keep Vaping,

Adam

 

[ChipCurtis]

ClipCurtis, you need to do your homework before saying something that isn't true. Feel free to go to vaporoptions.com and look for the phone number to the FDA. They will tell you as they did me that they are only releasing products for those two companies. You are reading the judges opinion, not the court order. The difference is one is a formal statement by the judge, the other is the order of the court which must be abide by. The Opinion states "ecigs" not a specific company, however the more important court order strictly mentions those two companies and therefore does not relate to everyone else.

I didn't contradict anything that you're saying above, I was only "at fault by omission" by forgetting to say that SE's and NJoy's shipments being released and exempt from further seizure. Other than that, everything I said was correct. I know that the ORDER does not relate to everyone else.

My recommended solution was simply a strategy for e-cig retaliers who can't or won't become part of a buying union, class-action filing, or whatever you have in mind.

 

[yknotagain]

I truly hope your plan succeeds Adam, the FDA is so full of themselves.

 

[mwa102464]

Sounds to me since your attorny told you it would be so expensive I would do all the legwork and file it all myself with some guidence to get it on file then when your day comes pay the attorny and of course get an attorny to give you some help with your work. You dont have anything to really lose and the more people that file suits the more they would have to really think about what there doing here instead of jusy everyone filing one big claim, file a 1,000 or 10,000 suits against them with the caviot being that no one back off there suit and make them waist a ton of time on this case till they see they are wrong and make every case point just a tad different so a judge cant combine them, or better yet have to group them, then you can have one attorney and all can pay for it, either way get it rolling and fast!!!

 

[jj2]

I'd like to see all the suppliers here answer this call to arms--it very well could be them tomorrow.

 

[BuzzKill]

Man what has the FDA got caught in their crotch ??? there must be some serious forces behind them pushing like hell !

an aroma therapy device is nice ( get it ? )

Anyhow it may take a class action law suit to get these guys to listen AT ALL !

BTW there are about 6 agencies that HATE E-cigs so I'm sure they all have their push going on.

I'm suprized they havent gone CHINESE and just shut down this web site LOL

 

[PlanetScribbles]

I truly hope your plan succeeds Adam, the FDA is so full of themselves.

They are full of something, but i'm not sure that I can say what that is on here.
Fight the good fight. I sincerely believe that what is right will prevail.

 

[Mac]

I wish we were bigger. Right now I don't think we have much too offer. MAybe in another 6 months we would have some capitol for this. Your logic is sound and I believe this could work. Unforunately our volume just isn't great enough. Maybe I can buy wholesale from a wolfpack member or get in at the last minute (we are growing). After my fundraiser for CASAA maybe I can hold an event to help raise money for the wolf pack. This is a great idea and I support it!

 

[Adam]

We now have 11 US Suppliers Interested. I sent an email about a lawyer's estimate yesterday. Myself and afew others are checking with other good attorneys to find the best one at the best price. I believe the estimate was a little aggressive, but I wanted to give everyone the latest info that I get as I get it. No secrets here. Please check your PM for that info. As soon as I get the other quotes, I will share them with you via PM as well.

Remember if we can get another 20-25 suppliers on board all our costs would significantly drop. For example, $50,000 divided by 10 suppliers is $5,000 each, but $50,000 divided by 20 is only $2,500 each. The more the better. I would really like to see about 30-40 total suppliers involved in this. If there is more, thats even better. We compete now with a lot more than that as competitors, so those who join would be the elite and will stand the test of time relative to this business of course. So, if you are not a supplier PM your suppliers you use and see if they are joining or not. If not let them know how you feel about it and tell them if they want to continue doing business then this is the best option.

Keep Vaping,

Adam

 

[dolvey]

Don't forget big tobacco is against vaping devices as well.

 

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

What the FDA is doing right now is called 'divide and conquer.' They are following the LETTER of the ruling, not the spirit...because SE/NJoy are specifically mentioned in the ruling, they get the pass. The rest of the suppliers will feel the FDA's full wrath at getting spanked by the judge, as they can still say "on a case by case basis, we feel that your marketing stratagy is that of a cessation devise, and thus, YOU are selling a drug/delivery device." And this is EXACTLY what they're doing.

The only way to get the FDA off your back, suppliers, is yes, jump on the lawsuit. Spend a little cash for the lawyer, and band together with your competition to stay IN competition.

Trying to stay under the radar and do things on your own will only continue to divide the industry. You guys NEED to band together or the whole thing'll sink (with the exception of SE/NJoy).

 

[Paranoyed]

I have been a manager for 12 years and I have never had a problem working with my competition. At the end of the day our products are pretty much the same my service is what differentiates me. I would strongly encourage all suppliers to get on board. There are many of us vapers you will still have business and wouldn't it be nice to give the FDA a pair of matching black eyes.

 

[Oliver]

I'm going to put a notice up for suppliers to come and read this thread.....

 

[pillbox38]

Ok please count me in, i ship to the USA TECC had a $40000 order seized we still have not got it back, this led to shutting down the USA arm.. TW i have a good clearing agent but i want some surety of supply.. My email is pillbox3840@yahoo.com