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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is enforcing the flavored cigarette ban provision of the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act by issuing several warning letters to companies continuing to sell illegal flavored cigarettes to U.S. consumers through their websites. The warning letters directed the companies to cease the marketing and sale of these products immediately or to take other appropriate action to bring the products into compliance with the law.
Failure to do so may result in additional regulatory actions such as seizure or injunction, the FDA said. In addition, the FDA requested a written response from each of the companies within 15 days outlining the corrective actions taken.
Enforcement of the flavored cigarette ban is the FDA's effort to remove cigarettes that contain certain candy or fruit flavors from the marketplace. Removal of these products from the market will assist in the prevention of children and adolescents from starting to smoke and in the reduction in death and disease caused by smoking, the agency said.
"FDA takes the enforcement of this flavored cigarette ban seriously," said Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products. "These actions should send a clear message to those who continue to break the law that FDA will take necessary actions to protect our children from initiating tobacco use."
The Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act, which was passed by Congress and signed by the President in June 2009, specifically called for a ban on cigarettes containing certain characterizing flavors. On Sept. 14, 2009, FDA sent a letter to regulated industry reminding them that the ban would go into effect on Sept. 22, 2009. FDA also stated in the letter that any company who continued to sell such products after the Sept. 22, 2009, effective date may be subject to FDA enforcement actions.
Since the effective date of the ban, the FDA has examined products offered for import and searched the Internet to identify illegal products. As a result, the agency issued several warning letters to companies and websites that continued to market and sell these illegal products over the Internet to consumers in the United States. The warning letters were the result of Internet searches conducted by the FDA's Office of Enforcement and the Center for Tobacco Products.
The FDA posted the warning letters that detail the offending websites and flavored cigarette products on its website. Click here to review warning letters.
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"FDA takes the enforcement of this flavored cigarette ban seriously," said Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products. "These actions should send a clear message to those who continue to break the law that FDA will take necessary actions to protect our children from initiating tobacco use."