Lets cut to the chase:
In a lengthy, politically jargon filled, court ruling, Premium Cigars are off the chopping block when it comes to the FDA’s Final Deeming Rule.
The original Deeming Rule sought to limit tobacco products across the board which lumped in premium cigars into the fold with products along the lines of cigarettes and cigarette tobacco.
The screenshot above is the final dagger to the FDA concerning Premium Cigars handed down by US District Court Judge Amit Mehta. What classifies as a premium cigar?
- Premium cigars are those cigars that: (1) are wrapped in whole tobacco leaf; (2) contain a 100 percent leaf tobacco binder; (3) contain at least 50 percent (of the filler by weight) long filler tobacco; (4) are handmade or hand rolled; (5) have no filter, non-tobacco tip, or non-tobacco mouthpiece; (6) do not have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco; (7) contain only tobacco, water, and vegetable gum with no other ingredients or additives; and (8) weigh more than 6 pounds per 1,000 units. (See Cigar Ass’n III, 480 F. Supp. 3d at 281)
From the Premium Cigar Association
“This is a great day for the premium cigar industry. Judge Mehta has handed down a scathing rebuke of the FDA and its rule. This underscores what we have been saying for years: premium cigars are different and should be treated as such.”
Scott Pearce, Executive Director of the Premium Cigar Association
“I would like to thank all of the manufacturers, retailers, and partner organizations such as Cigar Rights of America and Cigar Association of America, our litigation team led by Michael Edney, and our government affairs staff for shepherding this monumental decision,”
Scott Regina, President of the Premium Cigar Association
In the case of Cigar Association of America et al, v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration et al. the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled to fully vacate the deeming rule as applied to premium cigars for being arbitrary and capricious.
As a party to this litigation, the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) applauds this important decision by Judge Mehta. The evidence from the being has been clear that premium cigars ought not to be regulated or deemed as the FDA had asserted for over a decade. The Premium Cigar Association, as well as our industry partners, have spent millions of dollars and thousands of hours of staff time fighting on behalf of the premium cigar industry to lead to this decision.
A HUGE pat on the back to all cigar patrons who have donated money, time and resources to fight the FDA and the overreach of the regulations set forth to an attempted destroying of the Premium Cigars we all have come to know and love.
Smoke something tonight in celebration of the victory for the cigars smokers of the States, you deserve it!