We interrupt our regularly scheduled IPCPR coverage to bring you an update on the legal state of the cigar industry now that the dreaded August 8th effective date has past. If you caught our interview with Frank at IPCPR 2016, you know there was the possibility that this date might be pushed back. And that’s were we get started this time around. Did it happen? (You probably know the answer to that already.) And if it did, what actually happened? Did the sky fall? How will your local retail shop be different? What’s next in the FDA’s march to the sea? Even if you’ve been keeping tabs on the regulations, there’s still a few things you probably don’t know. (Some of those things the FDA doesn’t know either and they’re responsible for this mess.) Check out the video below for the complete scoop.
As before, this post and the video you are about to watch are not legal advice. Brian is not a lawyer, nor is he a paid or unpaid spokesman for a lawyer. As far as anyone knows he’s never seen the inside of a court room. If you are need of some legal advice and/or assistance with the FDA regulations, Frank is happy to help. You can contact him at CigarLaw.com (@CigarLaw on Twitter), hnewmedia.com (@hnewmedia on Twitter) or on Facebook.
See Also
Next FDA Update (8/30/16)
Previous FDA Update (7/30/16)
Great video! very informitve
Thanks, glad you liked it. I’m pretty happy with out it came out, even if my audio was a little choppy at points.
a wealth of information- Thanks Frank
Thank for the thorough and candid updates Frank!!
Has there been any talk about or clarification on cigar bars or hand rolled cigars at weddings and other events? If the manufacture is distributing cigars to consumers who are not technically the persons who purchased the cigar, would that fall under free samples?
I’d have to talk to Frank about it to be sure, but my understanding is that it’s fine as long as a consumer paid something for the cigar. Retailers and manufacturers cannot give you a free cigar, but your friends can. So at a rolling event you’d have to pay something for the cigar, but that could be included in the price of the event, or even be heavily discounted. (Packaging/labeling and other considerations may make rolling events tough though, depending on how things pan out.) If someone in the wedding party buys a box of cigars and gives them out, no problem. Again, keep in mind that I’m not a lawyer, I just know a guy who is. I’ll ask Frank about these situations in an upcoming episode.