FDA Regs Affecting Pipe Tobacco

[Emperor Zurg]

... considering that most Hearth & Home blends are post-2007, so if that new regulation gets enforced, so many of these terrific tobaccos could be lost.

Does anyone know what these nannystate assclowns are actually going to do to us regarding pipe tobacco?
Is the 2007 date going to stick? Are internet sales going to go away?

It certainly doesn't look good
I got this in an email this morning...

sadly, due to some new regulations that are coming, his [Russ's] monthly blends are going away.

And then there's this...

...the FDA wants to impose the arbitrary date of February 15, 2007 as the date at which existing items would be grandfathered in. Any product that was introduced after that date would have to go through testing and approval. What does that mean to you? From the pipe perspective, all of our Hearth & Home Marquee series would vanish, along with newer blends from around the world.

Linky--> Fight FDA Regulations - Pipes and Cigars

Looks like some things are vanishing already.

[BryGuySC]

I've been wondering the same thing.
Not to mention all the good recent tobaccos are going to get scarce fast, as people stockpile them, regardless of whether these regs stick or not.

[Nature]

Effective beginning on August 8, anything introduced to the market after the Feb 2007 date will need to be submitted to the FDA for approval; although nobody knows what the approval process looks like or how extensive or expensive it will be. So, no new tobacco products can be introduced after the Aug date, and anything on the market after Feb 2007 will have 2 years to be approved to stay on the market. It has begun. We are already seeing the withdrawal of products from availability.

Nothing in the new regulations speak of Internet sales. That isn't going away; yet. We will see a drastic reduction in variety, essentially only pre 2007 blends. I can't see the approval process being smooth or efficient; it is our bureaucracy in (im)motion. The skeptic I am, believe the dragging of feet, creating many hoops to jump through, vague requirements, along with not aiding or advising on the process, are some of the tactics employed to get tobacco out of our hands.

[Lynn]

FDA is doin studies an testing on male testicle scratchin to see if it needs to be regulated, but they say there is still 2yrs of more studies before a decision will be reached....

[Aguineapig]

Already allocating more of the budget for stocking up. I don't think I will have it as bad as most though, since I am cellaring deep, rather than wide, and mostly old C&D bulk blends. a few hundred bucks will make a huge difference in how well I sleep at night.

[Hardheaded]

I am not surprised to see some blends vanishing already. Especially if they are not popular or profitable enough to jump through regulatory hoops for. I think we are going to see a lot of blends going away just for that reason. Too much of a risk until the approval process is clearly laid out and the costs known.

The only way around this that I can see, and few companies would have the resources for this, would be to move ownership and production to any country other than the U.S. and stick to online sales direct to the customer much in the way certain cigars still make it into the U.S. In theory they would have two years to do that. Yes they would lose the B&M market, but in the age of internet sales it may still be profitable. I could see this leading to other regulatory problems in the future though for internet sales or customs, which may even be the long term goal of the government and this is just a stepping stone to that.

However this shakes out, it sucks hard for the american consumer. I suppose all we can do for now is oppose the regulations, stock up on our favorites and hope for the best.

[AlanS]

FDA is doin studies an testing on male testicle scratchin to see if it needs to be regulated, but they say there is still 2yrs of more studies before a decision will be reached....

Whats the cut-off date? Id rather keepem and scratchem.

[quo155]

I've been away from pipe & cigar smoking for awhile now, until I recently cold turkey quit dipping...and am excited to be back for pipe smoking. Then, I see this! This stinks...

[BryGuySC]

Anybody know of a resource that will help us know what tobaccos were on the market before or after that 2007 date?
If there isn't one yet, I'm sure it will pop up soon!

[BryGuySC]

Close(ish)

Tobaccoreviews.com from 2006
https://web.archive.org/web/20061121...coreviews.com/