Tampa Cigar Business Tied to Which Way FDA Rolls on Regulations
Richmond partner Bryan Haynes was quoted in an April 13 Tampa Tribune article about how the end of an embargo on Cuban goods coming into the United States could save Tampa, Florida’s last remaining cigar manufacturer, the JC Newman Cigar Factory. Five decades ago at the height of the Cold War, and because of a new embargo restricting Cuban-grown tobacco from entering the United States, Tampa lost its crown as the cigar capital of the world; it was only JC Newman that survived the dethronement. Now, however, many are concerned that the FDA’s new regulatory process to approve new cigars entering the U.S. market, which is currently being drafted, will render the lifting of the embargo a moot point as regulations will be so strict as to prevent the importation of Cuban-made tobacco goods.
Trying to predict what the FDA will do is a “fool’s errand,” said Bryan. “The administration would be talking out of both sides of its mouth. On one hand it is interested in thawing relations with Cuba, but on other hand, FDA regulations would effectively ban their most important export.”