WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five years after gaining regulatory authority over vaping products and one year after manufacturers submitted millions of applications seeking to keep their vaping products on the market, the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products announced today the results of its yearlong review process.
Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, a pro-vaping advocacy group, issued the following comment:
“Zero product authorizations, over a million banned products, and many more products left in limbo by the agency’s failure to do their job. That is the end result of the FDA’s multi-year campaign to destroy the vaping industry and hand the remains over to large tobacco companies.
“America’s tobacco and nicotine regulatory system is broken beyond repair. It is absolutely absurd that the same agency that found time to ban over a million vaping products manufactured by small businesses is now indicating they need more time to review products with massive market shares. Even worse, after spending five-plus years peddling false hope to businesses across America, the FDA now can’t even be bothered to grant formal extensions to the remaining pending applicants. This decision brings even more uncertainty on the day FDA had previously pledged to provide the public with answers.
“If smoking rates go up in 2022 and beyond, do not blame the tobacco industry. This predictable result will entirely be the fault of elected officials and regulators who have utterly failed to protect public health.
“The FDA’s opaque review process was intentionally designed to eliminate all but the largest players from the market. We look forward to lending our support to future court challenges.”
Yesterday, the AVA warned that the FDA’s decisions on PMTAs could benefit cigarette companies. Twenty-four hours later, the situation has only grown more grim.
About the American Vaping Association
The American Vaping Association is a nonprofit organization that advocates for fair and sensible regulation of vapor products, otherwise known as electronic cigarettes, with the goal of maximizing the number of adult smokers who use these products to quit smoking. The AVA was founded by Gregory Conley, a consumer and industry advocate with a long track record of advocating for vapor products dating back to 2010.
We are dedicated to educating the public and government officials about public health benefits offered by vapor products, which are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine or nicotine-free solution and create an inhalable vapor. The AVA is not a trade group and does not speak for any particular businesses, including our industry sponsors.
You can learn more about AVA and vaping by visiting the AVA website. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.
