FDA ban of flavored cigarette rolling papers..

Click to enlarge:
October 15, 2009 - BBK Tobacco & Foods (BBK), doing business as HBI International, has files a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's ban on flavored cigarette rolling papers that are sold in separate packages according to most recent issue of NATO E-News from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets.

HBI's mission is to help smokers better enjoy smoking by both distributing and producing the best RYO (roll your own cigarettes) & MYO (make your own cigarettes) products.

"HBI is only seeking to protect its brands, namely Juicy Jays and Skunk," a company representative told NATO. Juicy Jay's - it is the #1 selling brand of flavored roll-your-own products in the world. It is part of the Rolling Supreme family of rolling papers. They were the first mass marketed flavored rolling paper and currently have more than thirty flavors available.

In late September, Moorpark, Calif.-based Kretek International Inc., importer and distributor of Djarum clove cigars, filed a request for declaratory judgment against the FDA in federal district court in Washington, D.C.

In its lawsuit, BBK argued that while the new FDA law bans flavored cigarettes and the components parts of a flavored cigarette, such as the tobacco, paper and filter, the law does not mention that the ban extends to flavored cigarette rolling papers packaged separately. The FDA overstepped its authority to regulate flavored cigarettes by banning the flavored rolling papers that are sold separately.

BBK, a distributor and seller of flavored papers, said the FDA is trying to "expand its authority to regulate cigarettes containing 'characterizing flavors' under the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act." The act, signed on June 22, provides that "a cigarette or any of its component parts...shall not contain, as a constituent or additive, an artificial or natural flavor," but allegedly made no mention of flavored papers that are sold separately.

According to BBK Tobacco, the act's definition of cigarette includes products that contain tobacco. Flavored paper sold separately does not include tobacco, BBK Tobacco argued, and therefore should not be included in the act. The company says its sales of flavored papers comprise a "significant portion" of annual profits, and the act has had a "devastating impact" on its business.

It seeks an order declaring that U.S. agencies "have no authority to regulate flavored papers sold separately under the act," plus an injunction blocking the government from banning the papers.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are also named as defendants.

Reference: Rolling Papers vs. Court Documents
BBK/HBI files suit against FDA to protect products sold separately from tobacco, CSP (Convenience Store / Petroleum) Daily News, 10/15/2009.