The summer of 2017 could have very well been doomsday for the U.S. vaping industry. Food and Drug Administration regulations were set to take effect August 8, regulations that could have essentially wiped out as many as 99 percent of the small e-liquid manufacturers across the nation. But the FDA had a different idea. That idea consisted of a comprehensive plan it announced in late July that shifted its focus in a different direction.
The shift not only served to save a multitude of e-liquid companies from certain demise, but it may actually end up giving the entire vaping industry a huge boost. That’s because the plan includes a proposal to regulate nicotine levels in cigarettes.
Potential Boost
The FDA’s proposal to reduce cigarette nicotine levels has the power to significantly upset the tobacco industry, sending tobacco companies to the drawing board to produce products that can deliver nicotine in a cleaner way than combustible cigarettes. But smokers may not be willing to sit around and wait for that to happen.
They may instead set out seeking immediate alternatives that deliver non-diluted doses of nicotine. And one of those immediate alternatives is vaping. While different e-liquid companies may each have different options, e-liquid is typically offered with different levels of nicotine.
Pack-a-day smokers may opt for higher levels of nicotine, such as 24 mg or 18 mg, while those aiming to cut down or altogether quit can choose e-liquid with levels as low as 3 mg, or even zero.
Smokers who turn to vaping also have a viable alternative that most closely matches the cigarettes they’re intending to leave behind: tobacco e-liquid, some of which is even crafted using natural extracts from real tobacco. While natural tobacco e-liquid is designed to satiate the cigarette craving, vaping devices can fulfill the need for habit and ritual.
Delayed Deadline
Vaping would not have been as feasible alternative had the original deadline for FDA regulations remained in place. Those regulations demanded that all existing and new e-liquids on the market undergo a rigorous application process estimated to cost as much as $400,000 per application.
Officially known as the Premarket Tobacco Application, the PMTA involved submitting product descriptions, applicable product standards, samples, reports and related information associated with each product an e-liquid manufacturer had or intended to put on the market.
The PMTA deadline has been extended to 2022, giving the FDA enough time and additional information to aim for “striking an appropriate balance between regulation and encouraging development of innovative tobacco products.”
The vaping industry is already packed with its share of innovative tobacco products, which range from straightforward battery and tank systems to advanced, customizable mods, and technology continues to help these innovate products evolve. The entire industry may also get the chance to continue to evolve, thanks to the FDA’s change in focus.
When the new PMTA deadline does roll around, the process may have also undergone some revisions. The FDA says it intends to review the PMTA, with the goal of making the product review process more efficient, transparent and predictable. In the meantime, the vaping industry in the U.S. has been given at the very least a reprieve, and at the very most an upcoming opportunity to continue its growth and expansion.
Black Note sells tobacco e-liquid. This is a sponsored post.
