FDA Vape Registration Deadline Extended Due To System Issues & Demand

You may have noticed that we've paid quite a bit of attention to the federal Food and Drug Administration and their 'deeming regulations' that, retroactively dating to 2007, give the organization regulatory control of the vaping industry. This is for good reason as FDA actions, regardless of whether we're paying attention to them, will and indeed already are having a profound impact on the vape landscape.

This week, manufacturers received a bit of good news, by way of bureaucratic ineffectiveness. Though all products introduced to the market after August 8, 2016 need to go through a lengthy, complicated, and expensive registration and review process, existing products were given until the end of the year to register.

Unsurprisingly, the FDA was flooded with applications, as tank manufacturers had to not just register each product but submit multiple registrations for coils of differing resistances while e-liquid producers must register not just every flavor but every nicotine level of every flavor as an individual product.

As a result, FDA regulators have announced that they've extended the deadline for new product submissions by six months, through June 30, 2017. But what does this mean for the vaping public?

Primarily, it shows a chink in the government's armor, so to speak. While the unstated goal of the FDA may have been to drive a large portion of the e-cig industry out of business or underground, the manufacturing community's professional response and attempt to comply has overwhelmed the regulatory body's ability to follow their own rules.

Industry leaders are already calling this out as a sign that regulations many decried as draconian and overreaching may indeed be even more than the folks imposing them can stomach. If that happens, look first for another round of delays in implementation in the coming months, and possibly an eventual streamlining of rules to make them more palatable and allow for the continuation of innovation for an industry that's just hitting its' stride.

As with other developments, we'll continue to follow this one with great interest in the weeks and months to come. Stay tuned…