Russ WareFines have been handed out to a total of 18 vape retailers today, including 16 online stores and two brick-and-mortar establishments, after FDA warning letters were ignored.
The FDA announced it is seeking these latest monetary penalties for the continued sale of unauthorized e-cigarette products. Agency inspections, which followed the issuing of warning letters in October, found that these latest fines were warranted due to the failure of the retailers to cease the sale of the various vape products that were identified and highlighted in those warning letters.
The number of Civil Money Penalties issued, which can only be sought against retailers after they receive a warning letter and a follow-up inspection that shows evidence of continued infractions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, has now reached over 250.
Each violation can cost the guilty party $21,348, meaning the FDA has handed out fines totaling around $5.4 Million. Most of those CMPs were issued in 2024.
To date, the FDA has issued more than 690 warning letters to retailers, including brick-and-mortar and online, for selling unauthorized tobacco products.
The FDA is keen to point out that many of the recipients of warning letters “correct their violative conduct”, but the fact that numerous letters and fines are still being handed out in late 2024 shows that the message about the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes is either not getting through or is being ignored for the sake of profit.
However, it is difficult to imagine that all of these often small stores are making so much money from selling unauthorized vapes that they would knowingly risk a twenty thousand dollar fine just to carry on doing so.
Perhaps the upcoming change of government will see some changes in how e-cigarettes are controlled and restricted in the United States. A recent Washington Post story suggests that Donald Trump has “vowed to save vaping” after meeting with an e-cigarette lobbyist in recent months. Maybe vape retailers will be able to enjoy a let-up in the flood of FDA warning letters and fines after the presidential inauguration in January.
However, because President Trump signed tighter tobacco/nicotine controls into law during his first term, and also previously announced his intention to ban flavored e-liquids (despite posting on Truth Social recently that he “saved Flavored Vaping in 2019” and would “save vaping again”), quite what his next term will mean for vaping and vapers is unclear at best.
Versed Vaper Team
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