Dozens of e-liquid producers are being shut out of Indiana by a controversial state law that effectively makes a small security firm in Lafayette the vaping industry’s gatekeeper.
The impact, however, could extend well beyond producers. Retailers who must now find new sources for their product say the few producers who have been approved are charging much more, according to a story in the IndyStar. Ultimately, it is consumers who will have to pay higher prices, they say.
At issue are new regulations passed by state lawmaker
s in 2015 and revised earlier this year. The rules require any company that wants to produce e-liquid for sale in Indiana to be certified by a security firm by June 30.
The catch: So far only one security firm in the entire country qualifies to perform the work under the law – Lafayette-based Mulhaupt’s Inc. At this point, the company has approved only six producers, shutting out many existing competitors.
The law was billed as an effort to establish safety regulations for what had been a largely unregulated vaping industry. The law outlines specific conditions for manufacturing – that it occur in a clean room, for example – as well as requiring child-proof caps, detailed bottle labels and traceable batch numbers.on the products.
But now, critics are questioning why lawmakers would allow so few companies to dominate what had been a highly competitive market.