Goodbye Tatuaje, Liga, Romacraft, crowned heads, warped...

Originally Posted by the jiggler:
And all the other newer nc's we love.

Hello to higher prices and nothing new forever.

This nanny state bs is more than one can bear.

Better stock up boys because option 1 it is.

@&%? the FDA.

They will need to submit their products to the FDA if they want to say in business. They are not dead yet..

Products that were marketed prior to Feb. 15, 2007 are considered grandfathered and as such are exempt from FDA regulation. Products that were marketed between Feb. 16, 2007 and Aug. 8, 2016 will also be able to remain on the market, but manufacturers will have to submit these products for approval by FDA. While that process is taking place, manufacturers will continue to be able sell these products. While the companies will have to stop handing out free cigars by Aug. 8, they have effectively 25 months from today before they need to update all packaging to include text-based warning labels.

After Aug. 8, manufacturers will need to apply for FDA approval before bringing any new products to market.
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I read somewhere that it's estimated to cost something like 60k to get approval. If it's anywhere near that the boutiques are doomed.
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Originally Posted by the jiggler:
I read somewhere that it's estimated to cost something like 60k to get approval. If it's anywhere near that the boutiques are doomed.

if you have a link please provide it
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I can't find the 60k quote.

Here is an article from last year that mentions a 400k figure.

http://www.stogieguys.com/2015/07/07...egulation.html

Even if the cost is somehow manageable, the delay in dealing with the backlog will be too much. I highly doubt the smaller players are going to be able to sit on everything that goes in a cigar for two years while they wait for approval.

Maybe we'll just be buying everything like we buy Cubans. I think this going to be really bad for the b&m's.
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"To date, FDA has neither announced the cost of the application, nor how it planned on responding to the flood of new applications in a timely manner."
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So I'm shy on details - but - how over-arching is this legislation? Can one have "seasonal releases", or differing vitolas of a particular cigar? Are all the varieties within a make affected? Does each and every new blend, size or label require new approvals?

The boutiques will likely be hurt the most, as in my industry, FDA approval is a major cost factor in new product development.
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In my experience in working with certifications, which are electrical and NOT FDA, there is generally very little cost from a government fee side but an enormous cost in submitting answers to questions or in supplying test data or compliance information. Typically the cost is in labor hours, consultants that are knowledgeable in the ways of the certifying agency, and in perhaps testing your product at a certified lab or some such.

For example, FCC compliance means you have to test your product at a lab and supply an official test report demonstrating compliance. This could be your lab or one you contract with. This cost then is your cost to comply.

So when the FDA states the cost to comply is $XXX it's generally not the real cost.

Does this match what the articles are stating or claiming?
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Originally Posted by nutcracker:
So I'm shy on details - but - how over-arching is this legislation? Can one have "seasonal releases", or differing vitolas of a particular cigar? Are all the varieties within a make affected? Does each and every new blend, size or label require new approvals?

The boutiques will likely be hurt the most, as in my industry, FDA approval is a major cost factor in new product development.

I have a feeling this will dramatically slow the amount of new products we see hitting the market in the US.
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http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/L.../ucm388395.htm

I missed the part where the sky is falling

:-)
New products will require testing as stated above.
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So this means that there will be no free cigars handed out at events like "The Big Smoke?"
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Originally Posted by bobarian:
http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/L.../ucm388395.htm

I missed the part where the sky is falling :-)
New products will require testing as stated above.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the sky is falling as this is an enthusiast hobby we are talking about, however, I do think that if everything goes forward as planned there will be a dramatic change in the landscape.

We will have less choice, we will pay more, blends will take exponentially longer to get to market (been to the dmv or va lately?) and many of the current blends we like may disappear if they have arrived on the scene since 2007 and the brand owner decides they have neither the time nor the money to go through the approval process. All this has been said before but at least before there was an hope for exemption at least in the minds of peasants like myself.

One of the things I like most about this hobby is the camaraderie that exists around trying new things. Sitting around with a few friends, arguing about the merits of this or that...Even when the something new sucks, it's still fun to sit around and ***** and moan about how bad it is. Not to mention when you stumble across something special. I covet that two or three hours where care/troubles/pressures/stresses just fade away.

Not trying to be melodramatic, it's just a bit sad to me that it may change drastically as it's something I really enjoy.

If I were smart enough to articulate a unified theory of herfing one of the corollaries would have something do with any increase in intervention by the FDA being inversely proportional to the overall rating of the actual or potential herf on the Icehog scale.

Or this all a General/Altadis plot to take over the world. Clever bastards.
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I am gloom and doom on this issue.

On what basis would the FDA "approve" any cigar since they believe all cigars are harmful?
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Well, now is the time for CRA to earn the money we've been giving them. And, to have those members of Congress do more than pay lip service to their support of cigar rights. But, don't hold your breath.......
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From the ca article.

Originally Posted by :
The FDA has said this new product verification will be done "under staggered timelines, the FDA expects that manufacturers will continue selling their products for up to two years while they submit—and an additional year while the FDA reviews—a new tobacco product application. The FDA will issue an order granting marketing authorization where appropriate; otherwise, the product will face FDA enforcement."

This last item has been the one most feared by premium cigarmakers. In an industry where new products are an important part of the market, product verification and government approval prior to release would radically slow the process of getting new product to store shelves, as well as adding to the cost of business.

The FDA confirmed that all required applications could “cost hundreds of thousands of dollars” per application. "It's an average and there's a range," said a representative from the FDA during the conference call.

"could cost"
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I think someone summed it up well above that you won't find General Cigar or Altadis complaining at all as this type of compliance legistlation definitely favors large businesses. The small boutique shops will not be able to comply however I predicts lot of unforeseen future issues with illegal mail order products that are non-compliant and another difficult task to stop that as evident by the ISOM availability.

Be interesting to say the least but hopefully Congress will pass legistlation reigning I the FDA.
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Pretty sure the ISOM will be grandfathered in since Perdomo started making those back around 2004 or so.
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http://townhall.com/tipsheet/justinh...&newsletterad=
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Originally Posted by hotreds:
Well, now is the time for CRA to earn the money we've been giving them. And, to have those members of Congress do more than pay lip service to their support of cigar rights. But, don't hold your breath.......

:-)

:-) Sorry Hugh, but that's hilarious! If you really think that the money you have given them went anywhere but into their own pockets for "administrative costs" then I have a small island to sell you. :-)
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