Vaping Industry Displeased by FDA's CTP Plan

Representatives of the electronic cigarette industry expressed dissatisfaction with the plan announced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 24 to address deficiencies in its Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) operations.

The negative feedback emerged collectively after the FDA released its new 5-year strategic plan for the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), which seemed more like an anger directed at its slow past management.

For example, public health advocates are urging the Center for Tobacco Products to more actively regulate regular cigarettes and flavored e-liquids, while tobacco companies complain that the FDA is unwilling to approve new products, including e-cigarettes, designed to help adults quit smoking.

To understand the public or electronic cigarette industry's dissatisfaction with CTP, we must look at the "five-year strategic plan" that CTP launched in response to criticism from the Reagan-Udall group.

In December 2022, Reagan-Udall evaluators stated that the FDA was "slow to react and overwhelmed," with low employee morale and struggling to regulate both traditional tobacco products and the rapidly expanding e-cigarette market. This prompted a review within the CTP and ultimately led to the creation of a "five-year strategic plan.

At the beginning of the program, CTP openly admitted to previously being slow to react. However, in order to address current challenges and position itself for the future, CTP must shift from a passive to an active approach.

These measures aim to improve the negative perception of CTP through six areas, including cross-disciplinary collaboration, scientific and application review, regulation and guidance, compliance and enforcement, public education activities, and resources. The 15 individual measures correspond to the 15 recommendations put forward by the Reagan-Udall group.

Returning to the concerns of the e-cigarette industry association and manufacturers, the focus is on compliance and enforcement, as well as scientific and application reviews. Of particular interest is the PMTA, which is at the center of external attention. The "five-year strategic plan" includes internal efforts and better communication with external stakeholders on scientific issues and practices to support efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency. Additional staff will be hired to strengthen project management and implementation, including application reviews. Internal communication will be improved to improve mechanisms for scientific engagement and deliberation.

However, these measures have not answered or resolved the most pressing concerns of the electronic cigarette industry. The industry generally believes that "the current application review process is very cumbersome and time-consuming, with unclear and often changing submission requirements, which may have an adverse effect on manufacturers' innovation capabilities and compliance with submission deadlines.

The head of the Vapor Technology Association, Tony Abboud, believes that the FDA's statement does not indicate any improvement in its hostile attitude towards nicotine-containing products.

Representatives of the electronic cigarette industry have expressed disappointment with the FDA's statement, stating that this will continue to result in the majority of electronic cigarette products being rejected by the FDA.

The US Electronic Cigarette Manufacturers Association stated in a declaration that the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) should apologize to the American public for its efforts to suppress the nicotine e-cigarette market following the Reagan-Udall report, which caused great harm.

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The vaping industry is not impressed with the "reset" by the Center for Tobacco Products.