FDA's 2013 Regulatory Agenda Includes OTP Regulation

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Other tobacco products (OTP) will take a turn in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) spotlight this year now that they have landed on the agency's Regulatory Agenda.

According to the agency's website, the FDA will be amending "certain of its general regulations to include tobacco products, where appropriate, in light of FDA's authority to regulate these products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

However, the other tobacco products that the FDA intends to regulate and the extent of the proposed regulations will not be known until the proposed rule is made public, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported.

The Regulatory Agenda states that the FDA should issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) no later than April. Any proposed regulations would be followed by a period of public comments.