Tobacco Asia

12 tobaccoasia Issue 5, 2023 September / October Q&A THE TA Q A Tobacco Asia (TA): The United States FDA is to soon enact a contentious new law that would ban all flavored cigars. What impact would such a ban have on the industry as a whole, i.e. manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers? David Ozgo (DO): We believe that the pro- posed flavor ban would impact as much as 47% of the market or nearly US$4 billion in retail sales. Naturally, such a large loss of revenue would lead to job losses. We are projecting over 16,000 lost jobs. Lost tax revenue would be US$750 million. TA: How did you derive these figures? DO: The projections come from a study con- ducted by the Policy Navigation Group. TA: If the proposed ban passes into law, it obviously also will have an effect on consumer choice… DO: When the Tobacco Control Act was passed in 2009 under then-president Barack Obama, it had the admirable goal of eliminating youth smoking. However, President Obama said that the law would also "allow adults to make their own choices." Clearly, imposing a prohibition on flavored cigars is taking away adults' right to choose. TA: The impact of the proposed ban appears mostly negative. Are there any good aspects to it at all? What about an improvement in public health, for example, or other areas? DO: The Tobacco Control Act outlines specific standards that FDA must evaluate before it can promulgate a tobacco product standard. Namely, and firstly, [assessments of] the risks and benefits of the proposed standard for the population as a whole, including users and non-users of tobacco products]; secondly, the increased or decreased likelihood that existing users of tobacco products will stop using such products; and thirdly, the increased or decreased likelihood that those who do not use tobacco products will start using such products. Any tobacco use has potential risk. However, youth usage rates of tobacco products are extremely low and have been on a downward trend for roughly 20 years. … There can be little public health gain from the proposed prohibition on flavored cigars. TA: FDA claims it will only enforce the flavored cigar ban "against manufacturers and retailers but not against individuals". What is that all about? It seems redundant… DO: While FDA might not take enforcement action against individuals, law enforcement officials have an obligation to enforce state tax laws. To state the obvious: criminals do not pay taxes. As a result, state law enforcement will end up enforcing FDA's ban and that will mean enforcement against individuals. It is certainly instructive to look at how other flavor or tobacco bans have been enforced. There have been two well-publicized examples of police getting physical with teenage vapers in Ocean City, Maryland. And in Massachusetts, there have been arrests for selling flavored tobacco products. In New York, we have had the tragic example of Eric Garner losing his life during an altercation with police over selling "loosies", or single cigarettes. Clearly, FDA's proposed flavored prohibition will cause needless pain and suffering for many. David Ozgo, President, Cigar Association of America "Flavored Cigar Ban in the US"

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