On September 23rd, Cigar Rights of America (CRA) formally requested a delay in the rollout of California’s Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL) in a letter to the Attorney General. In the correspondence, CRA highlighted that the new regulations were adopted too quickly, leaving premium cigar companies with critical unanswered questions that are creating a confusing compliance and registration process in the rush to register products by the October 9th deadline.

Among the specific issues raised were:

How California intends to define “wholesale price” for the purpose of applying the premium cigar exemption.
The required registration process for various forms of packaging, including boxes, sampler packs, and other formats.
Whether brand owners can file directly if manufacturers or importers decline to do so.
Whether retailers would be granted a sell-through period for products not listed once the UTL takes effect.

Because of these unanswered questions CRA urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to postpone the October 9th deadline for manufacturers to file products for inclusion on the state’s first published UTL.

While CRA supports the UTL’s goal of removing illegal flavored products from the market, without immediate adjustments, the current rules will unnecessarily burden premium cigar manufacturers and retailers and lead to confusion in the marketplace regarding what products are legal to sell.

To read a copy of our press release on the topic, please click here.

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