FDA to Conduct E-Cig Workshops

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking electronic cigarettes public with a two-day workshop slated for December.

According to a notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register, the agency's Center for Tobacco Products' public workshop will include presentations and panel discussions about the current state of the science, and will focus on product science, packaging, constituent labeling and environmental impacts.

The notice was first reported by Troutman Sanders' Tobacco Law Blog.

The first workshop will take place Dec. 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Dec. 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The event will be held at the FDA White Oak Conference Center in Silver Spring. Individuals who wish to attend this workshop must register by Nov. 25.

The FDA intends to follow this up with two additional electronic cigarette workshops — one on individual health effects and the other on population health effects.

According to the Tobacco Law Blog, the notice indicates the "workshop is not intended to inform [about] the agency's deeming rulemaking." Rather, the workshop is intended to "assist the agency in carrying out its responsibilities under the law" if the FDA decides to "move forward as proposed to regulate e-cigarettes."

The public comment period on the FDA's proposed deeming regulations, which include electronic cigarettes as well as cigars, closed Aug. 8. The extended 90-day period drew 75,735 comments, as CSNews Online previously reported.

To read the FDA's full notice of its public workshop, click here.