INSIDE THE BELTWAY ENERGY MARKETERS OF AMERICA U.S. JUDGE BLOCKS FDA RULE ON CIGARETTE WARNINGS

Source: NACS

R.J. Reynolds succeeds in its challenge to the FDA mandate for graphic labels on packaging. A U.S. judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has blocked a federal rule requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packages slated to take effect in November 2023, reports the Winston-Salem Journal.

Judge John Campbell Barker Wednesday ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. et al. v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration et al. His order vacates a March 2020 decision by the FDA to require graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging as part of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

The same court issued another order to further postpone the effective date of required warnings on cigarettes. In March 2020, the FDA issued a final rule requiring cigarette health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements. In October 2019, NACS filed a letter on the proposed rule on graphic warning labels on cigarette packages.

The now-vacated final rule required cigarette manufacturers to include graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements. The “new cigarette health warnings must appear prominently on packages and in advertisements, occupying the top 50% of the area of the front and rear panels of cigarette packages and at least 20 percent of the area at the top of cigarette advertisements,” the rule states.

In addition, retailers of cigarettes would have been held responsible for ensuring those health warnings are visible to the public and unobscured. In terms of packaging requirements, retailers of cigarettes will not be in violation of the final rule if the cigarette packaging: (1) contains a warning; (2) is supplied to the retailer by a licensed manufacturer or distributor; and (3) is not altered by the retailer. However, retailers would be responsible for ensuring that the health warnings are visible on packages and unobscured by stickers, sleeves or other materials.

California saw over 6,800 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2021, up from more than 5,500 opioid-related overdose deaths reported in 2020, according to the state’s Overdose Surveillance Dashboard. The state estimates 5,722 overdose deaths in California are attributable to fentanyl – a synthetic opioid that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Fentanyl deaths among youth have soared in California in recent years, shooting up more than fourfold among teens ages 15 to 19 and nearly sevenfold among 20-to-24-year-olds from 2018 to 2021, according to an analysis by the Mercury News.

Many take fentanyl not knowing they are doing so. Mexican drug cartels have been lacing pills that look like other opioids and smuggling them into the U.S.

The rise in overdose deaths has caught the attention of several California lawmakers, who in the first week of the 2023-2024 legislative session, introduced several new bills requiring opioid antagonist kits, like Narcan, to be available in public spaces in the event of an overdose.

Source: The Center Square California could move to require opioid antagonist kits, which can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, in public spaces like libraries, gas stations and schools under new measures introduced by California lawmakers this week.

One measure, Assembly Bill 24 by Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, would require a person who owns or manages a bar, gas station, public library or single-room occupancy hotel in a county experiencing an opioid overdose crisis to post an opioid antagonist kit and instructional poster in an area accessible to employees. Manag- ers would also be required to restock the kit after each use and could face a fine of $1,000 or jail time for violating the provisions in the bill. consumers or the environment. “Thus, I am joining other Midwest states in seeking a permanent solution to allow year-round E15 and further reduce emissions,” Parson said in his letter. Governors from Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin made a similar move in April and Ohio joined the effort in June.

FUELIowa not only keeps you informed in Iowa but on a federal level as well by partnering with our national organization, EMA. If it will impact you, we’ve got you covered.

The bill would also require the state’s Department of Public Health to provide the kits free of charge, but there is no cost estimate for the bill available at this time.

Renewable Fuels Association CEO Geoff Cooper said, “This simple regulatory solution will allow consumers in Missouri to benefit from E15’s lower cost and lower emissions throughout the year. We continue to call on other states to take similar action so that the benefits of E15 can be permanently enjoyed by drivers across the nation.” tax-exempt purchasers (state and local governments, etc.).

First and foremost, refiners are the only parties liable for payment of the Superfund tax. It is important for energy marketers to understand that once crude is refined, the tax becomes a manufacturing cost refiners include in the price per gallon of finished product. No other party downstream of the refinery gate is liable for the Superfund tax because it is passed down as a cost not a tax.