FDA Extends Ingredient Listing Deadline Six Months Because of Hurricanes

One way or another, almost every cigar manufacturer just got another six months to file their ingredient listing and health document as part of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) deeming regulations.

The agency announced that due to recent hurricanes, flooding and fires, it would be extending the deadline six months for manufacturers and importers in certain areas. The list includes Dominican cigar manufacturers, as well as manufacturers importers in Miami Dade and Pinellas Counties in Florida, and the areas covering Houston. The vast majority of cigar importers are located in one of those three areas.

In short, most of the cigar industry just got an extra six months to file paperwork.

FDA’s full list of affected areas includes Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, 17 Caribbean islands, eight counties in California, 47 Florida counties and 41 counties in Texas.

This now means the new deadlines, originally supposed to be due in March, are now due on May 8, 2018. The deadline was previously delayed by a three-month FDA deadline as part of a lawsuit brought about by three cigar trade groups.

Small-scale manufacturers, those that generate less than $5 million in annual revenue and have less than 150 employees, get an additional six months, meaning their ingredient listings aren’t due until Nov. 8, 2018.