AWMA met with officials within the U.S. Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently to discuss issues related to track and trace proposals pending in the legislative and regulatory arenas.  AWMA’s President, Scott Ramminger, and Vice President of Government Affairs, Anne Holloway and Counsel, Gene Lange met on November 9th to discuss distributor concerns over a federally mandated system of track and trace.
 

In our discussion with TTB and FDA officials, AWMA stressed that the distributor industry is already heavily burdened by additional regulations and reporting requirements stemming from FDA’s oversight within the Tobacco Control Act and PACT and that further regulation under a federally mandated track and trace system could spell additional costs and reporting requirements for distributors.  Ramminger stressed three items that are essential when considering any federally mandated track and trace system.  First, that any digital stamping or “unique identification marking” must be done at the manufacturer level.  Second, it must be easy to read and easy to scan and not place an cost burden on the distribution industry.  And, third, it must not be dependent upon one single technology or company.

The role of the TTB in the track and trace issue seems largely instigated by legislation introduced in both the House and Senate known as the STOP Act or Smuggled Tobacco Prevention Act, which includes a provision calling for a digital stamp or “unique identification marking” at the manufacturer level to aid in track and trace.  No action has been taken on the STOP Act to date.  However, the FDA is actually charged with making a report to Congress on this issue although there is no deadline for such a report to be issued and there was no indication given at this meeting that such a report is currently being prepared.  

AWMA will continue to work with these – and other appropriate agencies – to ensure the distribution concerns are fully understood as debate on a federally mandated system of track and trace are considered.  We will continue to keep members apprised of any new developments.